Elemental Force
by aikakone
Summary: In Ginny's 6th year she is happy even in the midst of war and has everything she wants—Harry, friends, Quidditch, etc., but when she gets kidnapped from Hogsmeade, the only one who can hear her cries for help is a werewolf who may be losing touch with reality. Can she be saved before the fires of hell consume them both? AU after OotP. Multi-ship w/ previous RL/SB
1. Acts of Promise

**A/N:** This is a story I originally thought of in 2003 between books 5 and 6, and most deviations from canon happen because of that or because of incomplete knowledge we had at the time (e.g. Ginny's actual birthday). Chapters 1-16 have been posted previously, but the story is now complete.

Deepest thanks go to **AJRoald**, who was absolutely essential to me finishing this story.  
By the way, if you aren't already reading AJ's _War of Remembrances_, I highly recommend it.

* * *

**CHAPTER 1:  
Acts of Promise**

_I have all I want; is that simple enough?  
_~Neil Finn

**Hogwarts, September**

Ginny stood on the lawn of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, turning her face to the sun. It was a beautiful September day, and she loved the feel of the warm rays of light on her skin. Her flaming hair floated in the breeze while she faced the sky with a contented smile like a cat warming itself on a windowsill.

While the war had come out fully and tragedy of many kinds was all around, Ginny had her own little private joy that buoyed her spirits. She and Harry were finally together and had been a couple since the previous spring. Part of the reason they were together, she assumed, was that her brother decided to play matchmaker. It was one of Ron's most successful endeavors of the last year.

Being with Harry was lovelier to Ginny than anything else she could have imagined because it was actually real. Sometimes she wanted to pinch herself to make sure this was really true, but in her flirtier moods she asked Harry to be the one to pinch her instead. He was still somewhat shy about flirting with her in public, but in private he never held back the signs of his affection.

She had survived her OWLs, and received several high marks in her various subjects. While anyone would seem deficient in the shadow of Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley was on her own merit a gifted witch. Of course, she did well in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ginny had Harry and Dumbledore's Army, which still met and practiced each week, but there was more than just that.

The Ministry had actually stepped up to the challenge in acknowledging the very real threat of War. As an answer to that challenge, during the last academic year the Defense class was taught by not one but four different people. Each teacher was a gifted Auror or Unspeakable with practical experience fighting Dark magic. The variety of real training was incredibly stimulating to the students. The only one not pleased with how the class had gone was Snape, who still wanted the Defense position for himself alone.

Ginny had overheard a rumor in the Order that letting Snape teach Defense Against the Dark Arts might endanger his position as a double agent. He was still in his Slytherin dungeon, as surly as ever. Just because he worked for the side of good didn't make him any nicer. That was probably why he made a great double agent—his own irritable personality had never changed.

She hadn't been out on the grounds to think of those things. She had come to languish and enjoy. While it could be said of others that they experienced spring fever, Ginny was made differently. Her irresistible zest for life and energy began to overflow in the fall of the year, and she loved every moment of it.

A puff of smoke wafted near Ginny and caught her attention. She turned to see Colin Creevey, who had slowly become a pleasingly handsome young man, with his camera taking her picture. He was starting to mature out of his hero-worship of Harry, but taking photographs was still one of his passions in life.

Colin smiled widely at her saying, "Ginny, you look wonderful. You must really be happy today."

"I am, Colin," she sighed with pleasure. "Autumn is my favorite season of the year. I just love how it feels and the bright colors everywhere." Ginny stretched like a cat as she added, "They're Gryffindor colors, you know."

Colin put his camera back in its case and shivered. "Aren't you cold?"

"Who? Me? No! I like the cooler weather. It's better for red-heads." Ginny shook the front of her robes in an effort to fan herself, explaining, "I am actually pretty warm right now."

Colin found that hard to believe. For fall, it was beautiful but chilly. Eventually it was going to be another one of those cold-in-your-bones winters.

"Come on," he prodded her. "We don't want to be late for our first Defense class. I wonder who will be teaching it this time. I would love to have Professor Shacklebolt again."

Ginny laughed easily, and her eyes twinkled. "He was good, but too bad we can't have Tonks. She would be morphing every class. Just think of it!"

Colin smiled and nodded without comment.

"From what I hear, though," Ginny continued, "we won't have the same Defense teachers as we did last year. The Ministry wants to keep us on our toes. They're still making up for that mess with Umbridge two years ago."

"If the Ministry tried making up for every bad Defense teacher we ever had," Colin said as they walked back in to the castle, "Professor Lupin would still be teaching here. He was my favorite, even if he was a werewolf."

Ginny agreed with him and they both walked to their Defense class ready to see what other new things their sixth year would bring them.

###

A few days later, Hermione sat at the table in the Great Hall reading her copy of the _Daily Prophet_, a habit she'd gained during her fourth year encounter with Rita Skeeter. While she'd finally admitted that the _Quibbler_ could have its uses, she preferred the more mainstream media. The _Daily Prophet_, like many of the other official things in the Wizarding world, finally got its information about the Second War out to the people.

"Oooh," Hermione said with an air of drama as something caught her attention.

Harry was eating his breakfast beside her and asked, "Any news of the Chudley Cannons?"

"Honestly, Harry! Don't you read anything besides _Quidditch Weekly_?" Hermione would never understand the draw of the game, even if her best friends did.

"Hey! My girlfriend and my _other_ best friend don't mind. Besides, that's what we have you for," he said with a teasing smile and a nudge. Harry had actually been keeping as aware of the news as possible after Lord Voldemort's return at the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but that didn't stop him from teasing Hermione.

Ron, who was sitting across the table from Hermione, asked directly, "So what is it? You know you'll tell us anyway. Don't keep us in suspense."

Hermione nodded and read the news blurb aloud to Ron and Harry.

"_Several children are missing all over England and believed to be abducted by Death Eaters. Sources say Dark wizards are suspected of practicing Dark experiments on them. The Ministry advises parents to closely supervise children and not let them out in public without an escort._

"That's probably wise," Hermione commented after reading the article and putting the paper down in front of her, "but I can't help wonder what the Death Eaters are doing."

"Are you really sure you'd like to find out?" Harry asked her with a hint of cynicism. "Maybe you'd like to go get captured, and then you can tell us all about it."

"Harry!" Hermione looked at him indignantly. "You've been around Ron too long. That's something I would expect _him_ to say."

Ron looked to them with an affronted expression on his face. "Leave me out of this. I just hope it won't stop Dumbledore from letting us go to Hogsmeade."

"What's so particularly interesting about that article, anyway? It seems like normal Death Eater terror tactics to me." For someone pursued by the Darkest wizard in modern times, Harry seemed rather unconcerned about the subject of the article. "It's just another way to try to paralyze us with fear."

"I just want this war to be over so we can live in a better world, that's all." Hermione picked primly at her cloth napkin, secretly worried that it would never become a reality.

"Ha!" Ron snorted indignantly causing her to look up at him. "We know what kind of better world you'd like to make it. You'd do it single-handedly if you could," he said with a measure of respect.

He rose from the table to walk to the first class of the day and continued talking to her. "Hermione, the world doesn't work that way. Even after V... V... Voldemort's gone there'll be someone else to go make our lives hard. There are always the Draco Malfoys of the world," he said, gesturing to the Slytherin table.

Hermione stood up with him and chastised, "Don't be a pessimist, Ron!"

"I am not a pessimist," he said coolly. "I'm a realist."

She tugged at his elbow and bossily ordered, "Let's go."

Harry finished his own breakfast and trailed behind them out of the Great Hall.

###

Gryffindor and Ravenclaw sixth years were having Transfiguration together on Friday afternoon, the last class before the weekend. It was a much better lot in their opinion than having double Potions with Snape in the Slytherin dungeon. While the students were working on the fairly easy beginning of the year reviews like changing books to butterflies, David Tompkins, one of the Ravenclaws working with Luna Lovegood, sneezed, causing her to tell another one of her _Quibbler_ tales.

"My father published this story last month about a man in the Faeroe Islands who could freeze water when he sneezed. In fact, there are lots of people who can control the elements without the use of a wand. We found this one witch in Egypt who could move sand when she..."

"Luna! Not another tale, please," Artemis Florin, a fellow Ravenclaw, hissed at her. "They are absolutely absurd! You know those stories aren't true."

"Oh really? And you all thought crumple-horned snorkacks didn't exist until my father and I went to Sweden and found one!" She looked triumphant and proud of the achievement. The classmates around her were effectively silenced so all that could be heard for several moments was the sound of them blinking.

An enthusiastic voice too soon shattered the silence. "Professor McGonagall!" Colin Creevey's hand was waving wildly in the air. "Does elemental magic actually exist?"

She stopped walking from each student workspace and frowned sternly at the boy. "Mr. Creevey, you had better succeed at your Transfiguration assignment before you venture into something so unpredictable."

"But it is possible to do wandless magic, isn't it? Why, I heard when Harry Potter blew up his Aunt Marge..."

"Who told you?" Ginny said with sudden interest in the conversation.

Colin turned to Ginny, saying quickly, "I listen. I hear things."

"If you had shown as much attention in your History of Magic class, Mr. Creevey, you would have learned about early magic by now."

"Professor Binns _is_ the History of Magic," Ginny said sotto voce to the Gryffindor beside her.

"Miss Weasley!" McGonagall's eyes narrowed in reproach.

"Sorry, Professor," she said contritely, not that she actually was sorry. It was a fairly accurate assessment of the class that was taught by a ghost.

Professor McGonagall took off her glasses and cleaned them as she thought of her answer. "Wandless magic is not reliable. It _does_ exist, but it is random, unpredictable and extremely hard to control. Wands were created to focus the magic."

A beat of silence followed until Luna decided to speak. "Professor, there are everyday types of wandless magic. Ones that you don't have to read my father's paper to believe," she amended as a few of her classmates gave her disbelieving looks.

"Like what, Luna?" one of the gruff Gryffindor boys asked.

Turning to him, she stated confidently, "Professor McGonagall is an Animagus, and she doesn't need her wand to make those transfigurations."

McGonagall tried to shush her distracted student. "That is true, Luna, but that takes years of practice."

"There's also broom magic," one of the Ravenclaw Quidditch players noted.

"That doesn't count," Ginny scoffed. "The charms on the brooms have to be done with a wand first before we ever get to fly them."

Giving in to the discussion, Artemis supplied, "Potions. Potions is wandless magic, and Professor Snape will be the first one to tell you about that."

"That's right!" one of the boys yelled back in excitement of the moment.

"Students!" Professor McGonagall shouted over the din. "I suggest very strongly that the entire lot of you focus your minds and your magic on the Transfiguration tasks you have before you, or you will never get your magic remotely close to the ability to be used without a wand." She stared menacingly at each one of the students before her.

"Back to work!" she said again as she decisively finished the students' discussions for them.

A few of the classmates glared daggers at Colin and Luna, but they all returned to their Transfiguration assignments until the end of class.

###

The Gryffindor Quidditch team contained the trinity of Potter, Weasley and Weasley. Harry, whose Quidditch privileges were restored after Dolores Umbridge had been disposed, had logically been made the captain, and Ron played Keeper. Ron had gotten over his initial set of nerves that he had during his first year on the team, and now he was becoming the kind of Keeper who could actually gain Oliver Wood's level of maniacal respect. Ginny played Chaser, and she was joined by Kristin Jones and Kristin's boyfriend, Kyle Rothery. The Beater positions were taken by Hobart Simmons and Gabardine, _"That's Dina to you," _Hughes.

Kristin and Kyle were fourth years who had been sweethearts since as long as anyone could remember. They had both grown up in the same village, and their families had been good friends with each other. In appearance, Kristin was a normal-sized girl with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes. Her special interest in school was Herbology, so she was often chatting with Neville Longbottom. Like Kristin, Kyle had blond hair, which was fixed in a short buzz cut, but he had large, warm brown eyes. He wasn't funny in the same stellar way as his idols Fred and George Weasley, but he had quite the sense of humor and was always looking for a good prank.

As for the other members of the team, Hobart was so named because his father was a patriotic Australian wizard who wanted the world to know it. He was better known as Hobie to his friends, and Hobie was so good at being a beater that he'd gained the more flashy nickname The Tasmanian Devil.

Dina, on the other hand, wasn't a witch that at first gave off a very sporty impression. She was always dressed impeccably and had the air of a diva, much like her older heroines Lavender and Parvati. When she got on top of a broom, however, she was ruthless. As a beater team, Hobie and Dina were a force of reckoning.

Dina had explained to Ginny one time why her parents had named her Gabardine. Her mother had been quite the fashionista, and she still was. Her father was similar to Ginny's in that they both were fascinated with all things Muggle. "Gabardine" was their best compromise between something of fashion and textiles and rampant Muggle-philia. Her father had told her that it also just sounded "pretty," so Gabardine, a.k.a. Dina, but never Gabby, it was.

Harry was quite proud of his team, and he worked them out at least twice a week, usually on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. As team captain it was one of the things that he knew was truly his and that he could do well on his own merit. Even his encounter with the false Moody in his fourth year had shown that Quidditch and flying was something that was truly his, and the vindictive Umbridge had not quelled his passion for the sport. So though Harry's true nature was not to seek attention, he worked his team with passion and pride. and that naturally brought positive attention his way.

Harry was working out his team one early morning when Luna Lovegood, David Tompkins and Colin Creevey with his camera came to the Quidditch pitch. The team hadn't noticed the visitors coming onto the pitch because at that moment they were trying a new tactical flying formation at Ron's insistence. He thought it would make them look more impressive coming on the field, and Harry agreed to try it.

"Kristin, Kyle and Ginny, you take the left flank. No, the other left, Kristin!" Harry yelled to his three chasers.

When they had lined up properly, he addressed the rest of his players. "Hobie, Dina and Ron at the end on the right flank. You got it?"

As the players lined up in the order Harry had commanded, the visitors to the pitch saw them form a perfect V with a precise sixty degree angle. "On my mark, kick off the ground. One. Two. Three. Mark!"

At that moment the whole team kicked and rose off the ground as one unit. Luna looked up at them and squealed and clapped in delight. David, who was allergy-prone, looked up to the sky and started sneezing again because of the bright sunlight. Colin, on the other hand, did what he had come to do. He was excitedly taking pictures of the team as they were flying through the air in their formation.

"Oh, this is great!" he enthused from behind the lens of his camera. "These will be great in our paper, Luna!"

David wiped his nose. "We need to get interviews with the players. We could do a whole series with all the house teams."

"Nice idea," said Luna who was still watching the team in the sky. "Do you think it should be every team as a unit, or individual players?"

"I think we should compare positions like they do in _Quidditch Weekly_. First we can do all the captains, then the other positions–Seeker, Keeper, and so on." Tompkins replied with authority.

"As long as they let me take their photos, I'm ready!" Colin was clearly enjoying everything about this.

While the mismatched group of three was having their conversation, Ginny and Ron left the formation and landed near them.

"Come to spy on our game and sell our secrets to Ravenclaw?" Ron looked pointedly at the two Ravenclaws present.

"Hi, Ron!" Luna said sweetly. "We came to watch the team practice because..."

"We are going to write some articles about you in the school newspaper," David finished for Luna.

The rest of the Gryffindor house team landed near the others and was now listening to the discussion.

"The school doesn't have a newspaper," Harry pointed out coolly. The _Quibbler_ had helped him for sure, but he would always be wary of reporters and newspapers of any kind.

"We do now!" Luna giggled. "It was my idea, too. I get to be an editor, just like my father. David is the reporter, and Colin is the photographer."

Colin spoke to Harry. "That was some beautiful flying you did with the team. I can see David's headline right now–_'Here Come the Flying Lions!_'" He grinned widely.

"The Flying Lions?" Ron choked.

"Hey, I like it! Don't forget to mention the Tasmanian Devil is on the team," Hobie said as he did a few jig steps and bowed low.

"That is kind of catchy..." David murmured as he scribbled on his pocket parchment. "The Flying Lions..."

"Hey, you could also call us Potter's Pride," Kyle interjected.

"Why that?" Kristin scoffed.

Kyle gave his girlfriend a look as if to ask, _Shouldn't it be obvious?_ "Well, it fits the lion theme, doesn't it?"

Ron and Hobie chuckled at Kyle's explanation, while Dina tried to get the photographer's attention.

"Colin, you can take my photograph." she said as she stood next to her broom and modeled prettily.

He obliged her request and took several photos. Around them, the student newspaper staff and Quidditch team members were discussing further what would be involved in the newspaper itself and the articles specific to them. By the time they finished, David had made an interview appointment later in the month with Harry.

###

At the end of another week of classes, Ginny went to the common room to work on her long list of assignments. It was times like this that she wasn't sure her brain had actually survived the OWLs after all. She conjured a cup of tea and set to work. Much later when both Harry and Ron returned to the common room from whatever it was that they had been doing, they sat on the sofa near her.

"Oh, Gin, do you think you could spare your poor brother some tea?" Ron asked in his best mock-polite voice.

Ginny waved him off and said, "Help your self."

Ron tasted the tea and made a face like he'd just sucked a lemon. "It's cold!"

"Well, give it here, you big baby!" She reached for the cup and held it momentarily between her fingertips before handing the now hot tea back to her brother.

"Thanks!" He grinned goofily at her and then invited Harry to play a game of wizard's chess.

"Sure, Ron," Harry nodded absent-mindedly to Ron because he was watching Ginny. After a moment, he addressed her. "How did you do that?"

She looked up from her assignments. "Do what?"

Harry pointed at Ron who still had the tea cup. "That with the tea," he said.

"Oh, probably just something I picked up from Mum. You know how she's always cooking." Ginny smiled tiredly at him and said, "Good luck with your game. Maybe you'll actually beat Ron this time, right?"

"I have to try!" he said with bravado. "I'm nothing if not persistent."

"Yeah? Well, I had better be persistent at this homework, or I won't be able to go to Quidditch practice tomorrow morning." She frowned at the stack of books still left in front of her. "My captain would have my hide if I don't show up!"

"I know him," Harry said conspiratorially. "I could put in a good word for you."

"Could you now? Maybe you can have him fix me up on a date with that cute Seeker." She looked at him seriously, but could not manage to keep a straight face. She laughed as she said, "I hear he's got great hands!"

Harry smiled in laughter and blushed softly. "I'll see what I can do."

He stood up and kissed Ginny on the crown of her head before walking over to the game Ron had begun arranging.

* * *

**End A/N**: All chapters will be introduced with a Neil Finn lyric quote from songs in which he is the only songwriter. This lyric comes from "Private Universe" originally performed by Crowded House on the album _Together Alone_.


	2. Caught in the Act

**CHAPTER 2:  
Caught in the Act**

_When you come to cover me with your kisses  
Fresh like a daisy chained up in a lion's den  
The sooner, the better now!  
_~Neil Finn

In the following week, Harry had been summoned to McGonagall's office, and he wasn't completely sure of the purpose. He had not been made head boy, no matter how popular and skilled he actually was. It still goaded him that in fifth year Ron was made prefect, not that he didn't want Ron to have that, but there was no possible way to share such an honor without being from separate houses. Knowing that and also knowing that he had been up to no mischief, Harry was apprehensive when he walked in to his Head of House's office.

Harry stood studying the various objects on display as he was waiting for her to appear.

"Sit down, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said brusquely upon entering.

He jumped at the sudden sound of her voice. "Oh, excuse me!" he stammered.

She looked at him critically and declared, "Some would say you have a guilty conscience."

"I'm sorry. It's just that..." He hated to admit it, but most of the time he had reason to feel guilty. He continued to assert that it was not that he was busy finding trouble, but that trouble had the nasty habit of finding him.

"Harry, if you are going to become an Auror, you have to be much more aware of your surroundings. You can't let anyone sneak up on you unawares," McGonagall admonished.

"Is that why I am here?" he asked nervously. His palms were even sweating. This must be what it felt like to be Ron.

"Yes. After the debacle with that Umbridge woman, I promised to make you an Auror even if I had to train you myself, and I meant what I said," she told him with a look of steel in her eyes. "You did well last year, all things considered."

Professor McGonagall moved to her desk to take out several papers. After looking at one in particular, she said, "You still need to work on your Potions marks."

The older witch held up her hand to still him before he could even begin to protest. "You will have to be very good at everything you do if you are to succeed, including that one."

"But I _am_ good at Potions! If we had a different professor who was actually fair, I could prove it to you!" Harry huffed indignantly.

"Life is decidedly not fair, Mr. Potter. If it were fair, you wouldn't have Voldemort as your worst enemy, and we would not be in the middle of another war." She folded her hands together in a way that made Harry think of a praying mantis.

"If Professor Snape is as strict with you as I know him to be," McGonagall continued, "and you do successfully complete your NEWTs, that part of your Auror training will not be difficult for you whatsoever. Though it may seem insurmountable to you now, Professor Snape's exacting training will be a help to you later."

Harry respected Professor McGonagall because she was fair to all the students, even with the ones of her own house. Choosing to follow on that respect, he did not make a comment.

"The rest of your classes do seem to be in order for now, but you will not be allowed to slack in your academic work. As dearly as I love Quidditch, your studies will have to take precedence."

Harry shifted in the chair but again did not speak.

"Are you able to balance your role as captain of the team with your studies?"

"Yes," he finally said in a sulky manner. "I have no other things to occupy my time such as having been a prefect or head boy." He looked at her through the fringe of his hair.

She looked at him for a few seconds but did not reply to that point. Instead, she addressed his personal life. "Miss Weasley may have something different to say in that matter. I do not usually meddle in the affairs," here she smiled at the double-entendre, "of students, but I must ask you if all is well in that matter."

"Yes, quite well!" He was surprised by the question and not sure why she wanted to know.

"Good. And now on to other matters other which are more exciting for the both of us," McGonagall said with a very enigmatic and fittingly cat-like smile. "How fares the prospects for our winning the Quidditch Cup this season?"

Harry visibly relaxed. Here was a comfortable area of discussion. "The team is great! I am working them so hard that the plays are becoming instinctual."

"That's good to know," she said methodically. "And how is it going with the new student press?"

"Actually, I have an interview for the student newspaper with David Tompkins. He and Colin will be doing profiles of all the players in all the house teams."

"Potter!" McGonagall said sharply, making him jump again. "You are not at liberty to discuss any team secrets." She had a twinkle of mischief in her eyes as she spoke.

"As if I would!" he said with the authority of a leader.

"See to it that you don't," she concluded and dismissed him from her office.

###

After the Quidditch practice on the last Saturday of the month, Harry and Ginny were walking back to Gryffindor Tower holding hands and talking about game strategy. Before they entered the castle, Harry stopped to sweep Ginny into his arms like a dancer. She giggled at the graceful move and wrapped her arms around his neck to give him a kiss. Harry felt the temperature suddenly rise around him, and he wasn't sure if it was because he was kissing Ginny or if the weather had suddenly changed. One thing was certain–he suddenly felt unbearably hot, and he had to remedy the situation.

Draco Malfoy was at the same time walking from the greenhouse back to the castle with his cronies Crabbe and Goyle and could not miss Potter and Weasley's public display of affection.

"Oh, look," he said cynically, "Weasley's already trying to start the next generation of Mudblood lovers."

As Harry was at that time trying to slip the jumper over his head, it certainly looked to the Slytherins like they were witnessing the beginnings of a Gryffindor mating ritual.

Not one to pass up an opportunity to rattle Harry's cage, Draco went over to them with his trademark sneer firmly in place. "Potter and Weasley at it again, I see. We poor, innocent students can't get through a single day without you two trying to shag each other's brains out in front of us. Give it a rest, will you?"

Harry, who was interrupted at the midpoint of undressing, stopped what he was doing and tried to find his wand. His arms were still tangled in his clothing, but he pointed at Draco's general direction.

Draco gave him a bemused glance. "Not so impressive now, are you, Potter?"

"Go away, Malfoy. I don't have the time to be annoyed by you."

"But you do have the time to be undressing in front of the castle, do you?" Draco's eyebrow rose inquisitively.

"Bugger off!" Harry spat.

Draco mocked, "Oh! I'm hurt."

"Go away, Draco. Leave us bloody well alone!" Ginny fumed.

"_We_ can go where we please because _we_ are taking herbs back to our Head of House. _You,_ on the other hand, are loitering and making offensive public displays. I am surprised the hospital wing isn't completely filled every time you two try to kiss. I know it makes the rest of us sick." Draco smiled sweetly again while Crabbe and Goyle laughed on cue.

"Have you ever actually seen your own girlfriend?" Ginny asked acidly. "If you did, you might be petrified because her face is worse than a basilisk."

"Oh, you want to go there, Weasley?" Draco stepped closer and leered. While still looking at Ginny, he provoked Harry.

"Potter, what does your girlfriend do for you that she hasn't already done for half the boys in the school?" He then looked to Harry with mock curiosity. "Does she spread wide underneath you and moan your name? _'Harry! Oh, Harry!'_ Maybe I should go ask Michael Corner or that Longbottom fellow. How sad for you, Potter, that you couldn't be her first." Draco made a show of wiping invisible tears.

Ginny gasped as if punched in the solar plexus and paled, making her freckles stand out distinctly on her face. Meanwhile Harry, who had by this time righted his clothing, made to move as if he were going to hit Draco squarely on the nose. "Malfoy, if you don't be quiet, so help me, I'll..."

"What, Potter?" he taunted. "You're all talk and no action. Do something!"

Harry shook from head to toe in frustration, and suddenly the sleeves of Malfoy's robes were on fire. Malfoy was so shocked he stepped backwards into Crabbe and Goyle, making them drop all over the ground the package they had brought from the greenhouse.

"How dare you!" Malfoy was shedding his burning robes as quickly as possible while trying to hold Harry in his wand's aim.

Harry looked dumbstruck at the flames, while Ginny stepped between the boys. "Well you told him to do something, you arse-rag! Now why don't you slither on back to your dungeon like a good little boy?" She looked at him with complete contempt.

"I am _not_ going to stand for this!" he shouted.

"Fine," she looked back to him with an attitude of acceptance. Ginny then shoved him at both shoulders, making him fall completely into the herbs and his robes that were still smoking on the ground.

Draco jumped back up, but before any more insults could be traded, Ginny took Harry's hand. Together they raced back into the castle away from Draco Malfoy.

###

After they made it away from the Slytherins, Harry and Ginny headed toward the Great Hall for some much needed lunch. Then they departed quickly to avoid other Slytherins, especially Severus Snape.

As they meandered back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry spoke about the incident with the Draco and his minions. "I am sorry, Ginny. Malfoy's a stupid git, but he shouldn't be insulting you when he wants to get to me."

Ginny nodded with reserve. "I should expect no less, Harry. It doesn't mean his comments don't hurt, but then I try to remind myself just who was saying them. He has a father in Azkaban, and that is really nothing to be proud about."

"That's so mature of you," he chuckled.

She laughed thinly and faced him. "I do have my moments."

Harry sounded somber again. "About what he said... it's not that I don't think about it. I just... I just am willing to... wait." He ended looking meek and unsure.

Harry was a typical seventeen-year-old boy when it came to sex. What helped restrain him with Ginny was that he was patient and had a healthy fear of all the Weasleys. Her brothers and parents would flay him alive even if they _were_ currently a couple.

She smiled at him with assurance. "Well at least you're a normal boy, Harry. I would hate to think kissing Cho Chang," Ginny made an unpleasant face as she said her name, "would have ruined you to girls for the rest of your life."

He blushed. "She doesn't kiss as well as you do, but then again she was crying. I can go find her and try again if you like!" His green eyes twinkled in the teasing.

"Harry!" she said as she playfully swatted him, and he couldn't contain his laughter.

"It's not that I don't want to know," Ginny clarified after the laughing ceased. "I'm just not ready yet. Plus, I realized I don't want to have a very large family." She thought about it some more and amended, "At least, I'm not ready to start on the next generation. I'm not even sixteen yet!"

Ginny reached for his hand and smiled softly. As she was staring into space clearly in thinking mode, Harry foolishly asked her what was on her mind.

"Nothing important," she said with a blush. "I was just trying to imagine the names of our children if we did have some. I think two is a good number–a boy and a girl, one for each of us."

Harry blushed uncomfortably at her thought.

Ginny continued her trail of thought and practically bounced with her next idea. "I know! We could name them Harriet and Gene," she squealed with laughter. "Wouldn't that be great?" She had tears in her eyes because she was laughing at the novelty of her own idea.

"Harriet and Gene?" He looked at her incredulously. Harry wasn't sure just how to react to that, but he didn't have to think on it too long.

"Potter! Weasley!" They were stopped by the annoyed voice of Severus Snape. Both turned around with caution to the direction from where they heard the sound.

"Both of you–a week's worth of detention starting Monday! How dare you destroy the potions ingredients we've been working so hard to grow?"

"We didn't do it, sir! It was just an accident!" Harry could never hold his tongue silent when being accused of wrong-doing by Professor Snape.

"Mr. Malfoy informed me that you set him on fire. Fire, Potter! Oh, you're so like your 'perfect' father," the Potions Master added with distaste.

Harry ground his teeth together and furiously repeated. "I didn't do that."

"Do not correct me, Potter. I will see you both in my office after classes on Monday. Eat well because you are going to be busy a very long time," he said with menace.

When he finally left, Ginny turned to Harry and questioned, "Eat well? Is Snape getting soft? That was almost nice coming from him."

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. Then he took Ginny by the hand, and they went to Gryffindor Tower where they could tell Ron and Hermione about the unfortunate turn of events.

###

Sunday was a day of dampened amusement for Harry and Ginny. The prospect of serving detention for an entire week with Snape had ruined any joy that Ginny might have normally felt on her free day. Harry did not care for the prospect of detention either, but he had become used to serving detentions and was somewhat more prepared for them.

When Monday did come, the time raced by no matter how much Ginny wanted to make it freeze in place. At the end of the class day, she and Harry trod down to the dungeon that served as the Potions classroom. Professor Snape was nowhere to be found, and Ginny had a false hope that he had forgotten the detention until he came into the room from his office with a perturbed look on his face.

"Ah, Potter and Weasley," he said with his normal amount of distaste for anything Gryffindor. "It seems we still don't have the right ingredients for the potion, most certainly thanks to you both."

Harry and Ginny stood still to take the verbal lashing from the Potions Master. It certainly wasn't a new behavior from him.

"It seems that we need to take a trip to the greenhouses to get several different items if Professor Sprout has any ready."

He stared at them, his black eyes unreadable, before ordering, "Potter, come with me."

Snape efficiently turned to leave the classroom as both Harry and Ginny prepared to follow him. When the teacher saw her, he stopped her from leaving.

"Not you, Miss Weasley. You stay here and get to work on writing the labels for the bottles. At least your writing is neat and legible, unlike that of young Mr. Potter," he said to her in indirect compliment.

"Why do I have to be the one to stay here?" she asked, feeling that the world was unfair and foolish enough to challenge Snape.

"I don't have to explain anything I do to you, Miss Weasley, but it's because I don't trust Potter alone in my office. There is no limit to the mischief he can accomplish." Snape glared at Harry as he finished, "I've seen it happen several times before."

Harry bowed his head, hiding his look of dislike for his teacher behind his glasses and underneath the fringe of his hair.

"Come, Potter! I have to see with my own eyes if you can safely bring herbs from the greenhouse or if they will end up crushed into the dirt again."

"Yes, Sir," he answered as docilely as a lamb about to be led to slaughter.

"And you, Miss Weasley, sit and begin writing!" he ordered and imperiously pointed to his office chair.

She wanted to be defiant, but Harry subtly shook his head to warn her not to consider it. Instead, she sat down as she was told, crossed her arms and pouted as they left the room.

###

Ginny sat in Snape's office in front of the fire drumming her fingers on the arm rest of his high-backed chair and fumed about his punishment, the potions ingredients labels discarded at her side. She justified that Snape hadn't actually told her what to write on the labels before he marched out to the greenhouses with Harry. It was the simple fact that she was serving detention that made her irate.

Of course she knew about getting in trouble, especially being that she was the only sister of Messrs. Fred and George Weasley. Had she not helped in some of their best pranks only two years before? It was just that most of her life to this point, Ginny had managed to get through her acts of mischief undetected.

Suddenly, she heard a new voice in the room that hadn't already been there. "Severus? Are you there? Severus!"

Ginny jumped at the unexpected sound and turned to see Remus Lupin's head in the flames of Snape's fireplace.

"Hello, Professor Lupin." She regained her composure and explained, "Harry and Professor Snape are off to the greenhouses for more potions ingredients."

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to him about," Lupin said softly, more to himself than to Ginny. "So why are you inside his office on this lovely day instead of being outside?"

"Detention!" She rolled her eyes. "Snape says Harry and I wrecked the potions ingredients he needs for the week starting the ninth."

"You did?" Lupin sounded hard with his question.

"No, we didn't. That toad Malfoy was trying to cause trouble like he usually does. His friends," she spat, "are the ones who had the herbs and dropped them. Idiot Slytherins."

"Ginny!" He was frowning sternly now.

"Yes?" She looked at him abashedly.

"Are there _any_ of those potions ingredients left?"

"I don't know," she said with confusion. "Harry and Professor Snape went to see Professor Sprout to find out if there are more. I am supposed to sit here and wait like a good little girl." She folded her arms and pouted again.

"I see." Lupin looked neither interested in her punishment nor happy about this turn of events. "Do tell Severus to call me when he returns. It is important."

Lupin's head disappeared from the fire, once again leaving Ginny alone in the Potions Master's chambers.

###

When the mismatched pair returned from the greenhouses, Harry was using the Locomotor spell to move the items, and Snape was walking closely behind him with his wand pointed directly at the back of Potter's head. Ginny had gone into the main classroom and had been sorting labels and bottles after Lupin's call so as to give the impression of being busy. She was somewhat surprised to see Harry in such a vulnerable position.

"Come here, Weasley, and help us unpack the plants. Do be careful not to break anything or drop it on the floor." Snape spoke as if he were counseling an incompetent toddler.

She put her things aside and got up without a word to help unpack the various herbs. She only allowed herself a sidelong glance at Harry that revealed nothing. Both Ginny and Harry put the potions ingredients on the worktables in the specific spaces Professor Snape indicated.

As they were working, the professor did not raise a finger or wand in offer of help to the students. Ginny made faces to Harry when Snape could not see her. He knew better than to acknowledge it with a look or smile. Instead, he kept his face passive and unreadable.

"Weasley, put the labels and bottles on the end of the table with the purple flowers. Potter, you take this knife. Be careful!" Snape admonished as he took the knife out of Harry's reach. "Chop the petals of the flowers as finely and evenly as possible, and don't cut off your fingers. While I might find it vaguely amusing, it will make the ingredients ineffectual. Keep the green stems separate from the petals."

The Potions Master then returned his attention to Ginny. "When he's done with the flowers, put them in the bottles, but do not fill it past the mark on the glass," he said indicating the miniscule level marker on the bottle. "The stems of the flower go into the short fat bottles."

The pair nodded their understanding and quietly did as they were told. Meanwhile, as they were working on the task assigned to them, Professor Snape sat to the task of evaluating third year Potions essays. His quill was swishing back and forth across the parchment in a way reminiscent of an attempted evisceration. Occasionally the words "despicable", "awful", "horrid" and other derogatory comments on the level of the students' work were heard.

The tasks became more tiresome and time seemed to go on forever. Ginny was no longer sure how long they had been in the classroom, and she continued in her ill mood, mumbling and grumbling under her breath. After hearing this for several minutes, Harry tried to console her.

"It's not as bad as detention with Umbridge," he pointed out truthfully. Harry unconsciously flexed his hand where the scar still remained as proof that some human evils come from sources other than the Dark Lord. For that matter, it was a mild detention even by Snape's standards, which Harry also knew from personal experience.

Ginny turned her attention back to the work of putting the dried ingredients into the bottles. When the tedium of the work had again gotten to be too much, she asked Snape in a loud voice, "What does all this make, anyway?"

"That purple flower is one of the key ingredients for Wolfsbane Potion," he answered her with quiet malice. "Both of you should already know that if you had paid any attention in my classes whatsoever."

"Remus!" Ginny gasped as she realized why Lupin had called earlier.

Harry shot her an interested look at the mention of Lupin's name.

"Professor, he called earlier when you and Harry went to the greenhouse." Ginny said in a rush. "He wanted you to call him back. He said it was important."

"And you chose to remember that just now?" He sneered at her and cleaned his hands as he left the room to make a call from the Floo in his office.

"How can he expect me to remember my own name when this work is so awfully boring?" Ginny whined irritably after Snape left. "I tell you, Harry, this is worse than torture."

Both Harry and Ginny heard the murmurs coming from Snape's office, though they did not understand any words. It sounded as if Snape and Lupin were arguing or angry about something. Filling in the blanks, Ginny was sure it had to do with the werewolf's monthly draughts of Wolfsbane Potion.

Professor Snape returned to the classroom a few minutes later and dismissed Harry and Ginny from their work. Harry paused, not sure if he was really allowing them to go or if this was some trick.

"Go, Potter," he spat, "before I change my mind!"

Ginny pulled at Harry's arm, and they walked backward out of the classroom.

"Do make sure you return tomorrow ready for some serious work," Snape warned them sternly.

* * *

**A/N**: The Neil Finn lyric quote is from "When You Come" originally performed by Crowded House on the album _Temple of Low Men_.

For this story, Ginny's birthday is Halloween. (She mentions her age to Harry above.) It doesn't fit canon, but at the time I first started writing this, that character fact was not known. The possibility of a birthday on that specific Halloween was one of the inspirations for this story, and it becomes a small plot point later. That's why I have not changed it.


	3. The Fall Ball and a Broomstick

**CHAPTER 3:  
The Fall Ball and a Broomstick**

_All of your spells will break; All of your stars will fall  
So look out for number one; Fame is in your blood  
_~Neil Finn

The first day of October fell on a Wednesday, and it was also the midpoint of the week of detention for Ginny and Harry. The tone of the detentions was one of diligent work, and Harry was able to recognize that. After learning that they were helping to make the Wolfsbane Potion for Remus, the workload felt more bearable for him.

In fact, Harry almost felt that it was like an advanced Potions class because there weren't any Slytherins there, and Snape rarely ridiculed him without the benefit of an audience. It was also better than the private Occlumency lessons he had in fifth year because Snape was keeping a wide berth from Harry's mind. His assertion to McGonagall that he actually was good at Potions if given the proper chance was reinforced to be true, even if only in Harry's estimation of the situation.

Potions and detentions were not the things on the minds of the rest of the students while they were having lunch on that first day of the month. Several of the seventh years and a few members of the Quidditch team were sitting together at the house table while an excited murmur was spreading from the other tables in the hall. The source of the noise was soon answered when Dean Thomas joined his housemates.

"So did you hear what the professors are planning?" Dean asked excitedly as he sat down at the table.

"What's that?" Seamus, with a mouth full of potatoes, asked his best friend.

"We're going to have a Halloween Ball this year," Ron interjected dryly before Dean could answer.

Dean gave Ron a look for taking away the important announcement he wanted to make. Ron merely tapped at his Head Boy badge as a way of explanation of his foreknowledge.

"Hey, that's Ginny's birthday," Harry said as he realized it.

Ron nodded casually in confirmation of his own sister's birthday.

Ginny flashed Harry a smile brighter than one hundred torches because he remembered. "I know who's going to be my date!" She snuggled closer to her boyfriend and added to the others, "Besides, if the whole school wants to give me a party on my birthday, who am I to object?"

Harry smiled goofily right back at his girlfriend.

Neville, quietly watching the conversation, decided to ask Ron pointedly, "So are you going to ask your favorite witch to the dance this time?"

"I don't know, Neville," Harry whispered with a wink. To Ron he teased, "Didn't the Yule Ball back in our fourth year spoil you to all school-sponsored dances?"

"I think Neville has a good question," Ginny giggled. "It's about time Ron did the asking."

"Who?" Ron asked, pretending to be clueless.

"Probably her," Ginny said, indicating Hermione who was walking over to the table.

Ron's neck and ears blushed bright pink as she sat down beside him. "Hermione," he acknowledged.

"Ron has something to ask you, Hermione," Harry said nonchalantly to her.

"No, I don't!" He glared at his sister and best friend.

Hermione looked at them without concern because odd behavior was nothing new for her friends.

Ron was relieved to have stopped Harry and Ginny for the moment, but deep inside he knew this would not be the last from them before the month was over.

###

Ron was completely correct that Ginny and Harry would not let the matter rest. It could have been karmic revenge on him for being so active in getting them together. Now he really wished he would have left the two of them to their own clueless devices.

When he saw Ginny walking on the grounds between classes, Ron grabbed his sister by the arm to talk some sense into her.

She turned to him with a look of menace like a viper ready to strike. "What do you want?"

If he didn't know her so well, he would have been afraid of her. Ginny looked completely volatile.

"I want you to leave me alone, Ginny!" he warned his sibling with a murderous threat.

"I can't. I'm your sister. Remember?" She looked at him then with an expression of sweet innocence, something which Ron knew to be an elaborate façade.

"That's not what I mean! Stop pestering me about Hermione." Ron ground his teeth in anger.

She rounded on her brother and looked at him in disgust. "Isn't it about time you do something about it? You've liked her for years, and this is your last year together. Time is wasting, Ron."

"Look, just because you and Harry are finally a couple does not mean that you have to pair up the rest of the world!" Ron huffed angrily.

"Yes, I do–especially when it's so obvious that two people need to be together. You did the same thing to get me and Harry together."

"Well, that's different," Ron said in an off-handed tone. "I'm your big brother, and I'm supposed to look after you."

Ginny raised her eyebrow to give him a look to the contrary and then resumed her walk away from her brother.

"I mean it, Ginny! Stay out of this!" He shouted to her back, but she only acknowledged him with a dismissive wave of her hand as she kept moving.

###

Friday classes came and went quickly for Ginny. She and Colin had double Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws as per schedule. After her class she met Harry so they could finish the last day of their detention as quickly as Professor Snape would allow. She felt almost light of step in anticipation of the extra work involved in detention being complete.

Ginny schooled her face not to smile or show any joy at the prospect of serving her last day of detention as she entered the classroom with Harry. He, too, wore an equally inoffensive expression on his face. Snape met them in front of the classroom. He was standing tall with his stringy hair over his face and his hands behind his back.

"It seems we have come to the final day of your detentions, Potter and Weasley," he said, particularly emphasizing their names as if they felt bad in his mouth. "Your work today will be different than the other days."

A brief chill of terror ran through Ginny as she imagined that he was saving his worst for last.

Harry was told to put things away in the storeroom beside the dungeon classroom, but not before completely cleaning the shelves from various amounts of dust, spiders and other gathered debris. Harry thought inwardly that it was the work lower than that of a house elf, but he wouldn't dare mention that now to Ginny who was with him and especially not later to Hermione who would become full of righteous indignation.

Snape commented acidly to Ginny that she did have extremely neat and orderly handwriting. For her he gave a rather large and old dusty Potions text to copy into a new book.

"Make sure you copy the directions clearly and completely. I would hate to have a mistake when it is time to serve you a potion, Miss Weasley." There was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes that usually came when he was being malicious to a Gryffindor.

They were separated, and both students went about their work as complacently as possible. It was only near the end of their detention that Professor Snape came out of his office with a flimsy news parchment in his hand.

"It looks like Potter is again trying to be an attention-seeking glory hound," he said indicating the article by David Tompkins in the new student paper the _Hogwarts Herald_.

Ginny, who was very interested in what Harry's interview might say, asked, "Oh, please let me read that, sir."

Harry didn't want Snape's negative attention and gave Ginny a frantic look. He murmured from the doorway of the storage room, "I can tell you about the interview later, Ginny."

He was not quick enough for the professor who commenced reading the article in mock tones.

_Potter Stands at the Head of the Team:_

_Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, smiles confidently as he talks about the Gryffindor house Quidditch team. The Seeker and Captain believes in his team's chances to win the house cup in this, his final year at Hogwarts._

"You would, Potter," Snape commented as an aside from the news text. "Your cockiness never ceases to amaze me."

The two students worked in miserable silence as Snape mocked Harry's every comment in the newspaper article with malicious glee. Tompkins had been an unbiased writer, and the article had been written very well. It was a rare find after all Harry's other experience with reporters.

When the obligatory comments about Harry being an orphan were written into the article, Snape had to stop and reiterate again at what a horrible person James Potter was and how Harry was just like his father. Oddly, Snape never mentioned one foul word against Lily, perhaps because as Harry knew from his trip into the pensieve that Lily had once defended him.

Harry tried not to give in to the resentment that was building within him. He knew this was just the low tactics of a bitter man, and his rudeness was nothing new to him because he had experienced it the entire time of his Hogwarts schooling. Still, the words of mocking hit sore spots that Harry didn't realize were still there.

He was working and trying to shut out the man's words. Incessantly they came barraged his ears. Finally, when it seemed he could take it no more, the metal tray that Harry was holding heated unbearably in his hands, and Harry gave a whelp of pain. The tray seemed to jump of its own accord, and several of the neat and orderly bottles crashed to the floor. At the same time, the ancient tome Ginny had been duplicating tumbled from her hands and landed in the fire. Further complicating the matter, several empty glass vials around them shattered with no apparent cause.

All three of the people in the room stopped in amazement, Snape most certainly thinking that the evil students had done these things on purpose. The moment was frozen in fear, and it was only shattered by Snape's delayed shriek of rage. It was not clear which student offense was worse in his mind, but the situation was horribly wrong.

Ginny looked at the livid face of her professor and then at the book burning in the fireplace. Without pausing to consider her actions, she quickly reached into the fire and pulled out the charred book. She blew the smoke from the book and offered it meekly to Snape without a word.

He took the book under his arm while staring suspiciously from Ginny to Harry. He stroked the book in consolation as one would stroke a pet cat, but he hadn't found the words for his anger yet. Both students inwardly cowered for when he would start to rail against them. Everything would undoubtedly be their fault even if it was an accident or something out of their control.

"It seems Potter has a temper. I always knew it, Potter. Again you prove to me how horrible you are," the professor snarled.

Ginny sent worried looks to Harry, but Harry didn't acknowledge her. Meanwhile Snape continued.

"I would have you clean this mess, but I see that you both have too much of a gift for destruction." He looked at them with a haughty air and then used his wand to clean the broken glass. That being done, he yelled at the pair one more time. "Go! Get out."

Ginny and Harry did not at first move until they heard his voice say, "Now!"

They backed slowly out of the room as he changed his attention to the burned book in his hands. When they reached the threshold, both paused, and he looked up from his book to stare at them with the most hateful expression Ginny had ever seen on his face.

Professor Snape did not speak to her and did not make threats. It was at that moment that Ginny found him to be his most intimidating. As the sister of pranksters, she had a sense of people's intentions. She knew he had something planned and that it would amount to no good.

###

On Saturday at lunch, an unknown guest was seen chatting with the professors at the head table. While few of the students knew who he was, there was no mistaking the shade of bright red hair that could only be described as Weasley red and heralded his membership to the family. Ron and Ginny didn't at first notice Bill until he strode over to the Gryffindor table with a satisfied look on his face while hiding something behind his back.

"Good afternoon!" he greeted with a huge smile. He still had the long ponytail that Mrs. Weasley despised, and his fang earring bobbed as he stood in front of his family.

"Bill!" Ginny jumped up from the table and grabbed her oldest brother with crushing force. Ron stood up, too, but gave him a manly one-armed hug instead.

"Why are you here," she asked with a smile, "and what are you hiding?"

"It looks broom-shaped to me, Ginny," Ron deadpanned.

"Quite right, my brother," Bill winked. "But you can not be too sure as this comes for Miss Ginny Weasley from Messers. Fred and George Weasley."

Ginny wrinkled her brow. "Fred and George got me a broom?"

Already laughing at the possibility, Ron said, "It could be a trick broom from their shop! Maybe when you fly it, it will turn into a Muggle vacuum cleaner."

After thinking about it more, Ron changed his mind. "No, that's not nearly funny enough for them. It probably will try to shake you off of it and not even let you ride it."

Bill smiled wryly because he, too, knew the inventiveness of the twins. "It's not so exciting this time, Ron. This time the broom is just a broom."

"Thank you, Bill, but why didn't they bring it themselves?" Ginny asked. "Are they still refusing to come back to Hogwarts after dealing with that Umbridge woman?"

He gave them both a look of chastisement. "Can't I want to spend time with my baby brother and sister?

He looked from one to the other, who each had the good sense to look embarrassed. Bill then broke out with one of his smiles that had made him a hit with most of the female and some of the male population.

"Truth be told, this is quite the expensive broom our brothers bought for you, Ginny. They are doing well with the shop and wanted to get you something extra-special for your sixteenth birthday. When they spent so much money, they needed someone who works at Gringotts to accompany the money and the merchandise. Consider it financial security. So... that leads to me," he put his splayed fingers over his heart and bent his head, "delivering this broom personally to you, my sister, from our dear brothers."

Harry, who had been waiting silently near them for a while, finally spoke. "Open it, Ginny! I can't wait to see what broom you have! It could be a Nimbus. I always loved that broom," he said with fond remembrance.

"It might help the team's chances of winning, not that you actually _need_ help. Isn't that right, Ron?" Bill nudged the youngest of his brothers.

Ron pushed back at his oldest brother with good humor while being curious himself about the broom that Fred and George had given to Ginny.

"Oh course!" she said because she didn't need that much encouragement to open the present. "Bill, please stay and eat lunch with us," she invited before she began.

He smiled widely, and it reminded Harry again how Bill had a charm that would not be out of place at a Muggle rock concert.

Hermione had come to the table as Ginny was inviting Bill to eat lunch, and she was thrilled to see the eldest Weasley sibling. "Bill!" she squealed in delight and gave him a big hug.

Ron, watching this, felt his face fall just for a moment when he saw Hermione with her arms around his brother. Even though Bill was newly married, Ron was jealous of the attention Granger so freely gave his brother. Luckily for Ron, Ginny was not watching him then, and though Harry saw it, he chose not to mention it.

After releasing Hermione from his embrace, Bill joined them at the Gryffindor table for lunch. It was a cause for an impromptu celebration for Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione. The rest of the Quidditch team, curious of seeing yet another Weasley who was so obviously _cool, _plus the fact that he had brought Ginny a new broom, came to sit with the group around Bill. Animated talk was heard up and down the table, and a significant amount of it was speculation about the broom which Ginny had still not taken out of its wrappings.

Kristin, Ginny's fellow chaser, finally had enough of waiting. "Open the broom right now, Ginny, or I'll have to ask Hobie and Dina not to save you from any bludgers in practice. Even worse, I'll turn Kyle loose on you. You know it's been his dream to out-Weasley a Weasley."

Laughing, but enjoying the others' suspense, Ginny finally relented. First she took the card and read it aloud. "It says 'To Ginny for your birthday. Love Gred and Feorge.' Huh. I would have thought they might have written something more personal."

Ron swatted his sister. "They're probably too busy at their shop. Now stop making us wait!"

She smirked at Ron and then with meticulous and deliberate slowness unwrapped the brown paper from around her broom. The handle of the broom was oak polished to a reddish purple. She removed the paper to reveal the opposite end of the broom. The wheat-colored straws were all sleek and trimmed to a perfect aerodynamic teardrop shape. The silver writing on the handle declared it to be a Pleiades 7.

"Wow," Ginny and several others gasped in appreciation. "It's beautiful."

Ron laughed and slapped the table with glee, earning him a glare from Ginny. "What?" she questioned with annoyance.

"No one's ever heard of a Pleiades 7. It hasn't even been mentioned in _Quidditch Weekly_." Ron continued to laugh. "Our brothers _did _get you a trick broom!"

"Ginny, it's a new prototype," Bill assured his sister. "I checked it for curses and hexes myself before I brought it here. As far as our brothers are concerned, it doesn't have any magical enhancements."

She hugged Bill quickly and sat down. To the others she promised to test the broom after lunch was finished.

When talk of the broom had momentarily subsided, the next big topic was the coming Halloween Ball. A few of the students already had dates and were gleefully sharing that information with Bill. Some of the girls were blatantly flirting with him at this point in vain hopes to snare him to be their date for the Ball. Bill good-naturedly shrugged it off with an inoffensive smile.

"So, Bill, how are things going with you and your _wife_ Fleur?" Ginny asked loudly to stop the girls from pestering her brother. "It's good when you find someone to love, isn't it?"

"Ignore her, Bill! She's been trying to pair up everyone in the known universe," Ron advised as he poked the air with his fork for emphasis.

"Only the people that _need_ pairing, dear brother," she said pointedly to Ron. "And the odds are Bill has everything going just fine with Fleur. Isn't that right, Bill?"

"Who do you need to be paired with, Ron?" Bill said, deflecting his attention back to his brother.

Ginny opened her mouth to say, but Ron put his hand over her mouth before she could say it.

"No one, Bill. Isn't that right, Ginny?" He looked at his sister with a warning fire in his eyes.

Ginny slapped her brother's hand off her face, and said, "You know, sooner or later, that witch that you so obviously love, is going to become tired of being called 'no one.' She might decide it's time to find someone better!"

Ginny crossed her arms across her chest and stared daggers at her brother across her plate.

While Ginny was pouting about Ron and his social-ineptitude, Dina noticed an article in Hermione's copy of the _Daily Prophet_ about a new executive named Jonathan Moss at the London branch of Gringotts Wizard Bank. When she finished scanning the article she turned to her fellow beater to inform him he needed to be more like the man in the article.

"What's so great about him?" Hobie asked defensively.

Dina sighed and rolled her eyes at him before addressing Bill. "You work at Gringotts, don't you?"

Bill tapped his temple in salute, saying, "The best curse-breaker they got!"

"So you must have seen this Moss before. What's he like?" Dina leaned forward in her seat ready to listen to every word Bill would say.

"Nice bloke. He works with the Muggles on exchanges and such. They usually like him, so he's good for business." Bill continued to eat everything, stuffing himself like he hadn't been well fed in a long time.

Dina turned to Hobie again. "See? You need to be like that. More charming and fix up your looks."

"I am plenty charming, Dina! You just want to do a make over on me."

She gave a small shrug. "Are you going to the Halloween Ball?"

"With you? Not a chance!" He jested, and she laughed derisively.

"No, but you've had your eyes on that pretty Ravenclaw Artemis since last year. Go ask her. Unless your fan club won't let you!" Dina cocked her head to indicate the pack of fan girls farther down the table.

Hobie knew that meant war. "I will ask her if you ask that bloke you have been going on and on about. It is seriously getting annoying, Gabardine!" He pronounced every syllable of her name slowly. "I might have to tell him for you that you fancy him."

She gasped. "You wouldn't!"

"Oh, yes. I would!" He fluttered his eyelashes at her.

"Excellent! Dina has a crush," Kyle piped in and winked conspiratorially to Hobie.

"You wouldn't think of it, Rothery, or else I will have to tell Kristin about your pranking plans for the Halloween Ball." She looked from him to Kristin and then said, "Oops!" in mock innocence.

The Quidditch team members quieted from their conversation as the remains of the lunch was cleared away. Bill then stood up and gave hugs all around to Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Harry before he left Hogwarts. Both his siblings had asked him to come back and see the game if he could make it, and he agreed to try because he was as interested as they were to see Ginny on her new broom in action.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyrics from this chapter come from "Fame Is" performed by Crowded House on the album _Woodface_.


	4. Tumbles and Spills

**CHAPTER 4:  
Tumbles and Spills**

_I'll do anything you want to  
Please let me go with you  
I'll wear the smile on your face  
_~Neil Finn

More than a week had passed since Bill had brought Ginny her new broom, and she was sitting alone at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. She had chosen to do her homework there, and as her mind was occupied, she did not notice that someone had come to the table until a shadow fell across her face.

Looking up, she saw that it was Professor Snape standing in front of her. She had no idea why he was there, but assumed that it was likely something very unpleasant. On the last Friday of detention he had been the angriest with her that she had ever seen, and she didn't like that feeling at all.

"Thank you for saving my book, Miss Weasley," he said with what sounded like great effort.

An expression of gratitude from Severus Snape was so unusual that Ginny dropped her quill and embarrassingly babbled, "Yes, sir. Of course, sir."

He looked down his long nose at her as if he were debating something objectionable. Snape finally spoke yet another thing that surprised Ginny.

"Your hand is especially good at copying texts, and you had the quick-thinking to save my book. I require your assistance to help copy more books in my personal library."

Ginny was bewildered by this. Copying books and texts for part of her detention as if she were a recalcitrant monk was one thing, but wasn't there a more magical way to make copies of the book?

"Thank you, sir. Would you not prefer to have Hermione Granger copying texts for you? I am sure she would enjoy it greatly, and she has an even hand like my own," Ginny said quite formally to her Potions professor.

"Granger," he said, sharply emphasizing her name, "is an insufferable know-it-all, and she has Head Girl duties. You have no such time restrictions."

"That is true, sir," Ginny grumbled.

"Weasley, I will be seeing you later!" Snape concluded. "You will be hand copying every single one of the Potions texts in my personal library. If you are a lucky soul," he said with malevolent humor, "you may see daylight by the time you take your NEWTs."

Professor Snape walked away from her, his cape billowing dramatically behind him with practiced ease. Meanwhile, Ginny felt like she had a severe case of indigestion.

###

Ginny started her non-detentions with Snape immediately after classes on Monday. She worked hard on copying the ancient tomes. She was surprised that some of the books he had were not on the shelf of the main library with Madam Pince. Perhaps this was a way to give a gift to the school library, but Ginny didn't think altruistic motives to be very likely coming from Severus Snape.

When she was again busy on Tuesday after classes, Harry's suspicions were raised. Upon her return to Gryffindor Tower that evening, he confronted her.

"What have you been doing?" Harry asked Ginny.

She shrugged artlessly. "Just more and more text copying for Professor Snape. Who knew the way to the man's cold, black heart was through a quill?"

Harry ignored her joke and instead demanded, "Let me see your hands."

Ginny held her hands out to him palm up so he could see them. She thought Harry might be looking for quill calluses, but when he turned her hands over, she knew he was looking for something else.

"No, he didn't do that," she said in answer to Harry's unasked question.

"Good," Harry bit out. "How long is he going to make you do this?"

"I don't know, but he's threatened to make me do it until I graduate. He'd probably hold me longer if he could."

Harry guided her hands and wrapped her arms around him. When she held him in a hug he kissed her. "Snape can't have you forever. You're my girlfriend."

"Ew, Harry!" Ginny said using a face that looked very much like Ron's sour face. "He's too old for me. Don't even get me started on his grooming habits."

"I didn't mean it like that!" he said, showing his own look of distaste. "He can't keep you in this detention-but-not-a-detention forever. We'll go to McGonagall and Dumbledore if we need to."

Ginny didn't point out that Harry himself had been vaguely in a similar situation with Umbridge and refused to ask Dumbledore or McGonagall for help.

"Right, I know. Eventually he will get bored. I hope for my sake that it's before my hand falls off! On the bright side, though," she said with a smile, "I should have no trouble with the Potions portion of the NEWTs, because I've been copying some of the most complicated potions there are."

"So glad you can see the silver lining," Harry commented.

"It's a skill I've had to learn, Harry," she said back, momentarily sounding tired.

He released her, and they each went about the rest of their homework. Ginny went off to work with her fellow sixth years, and Harry naturally found Ron and Hermione.

###

On Wednesday the copy work continued as it had the other days Ginny had been with Snape. She found the formula for Wolfsbane potion, which the professor had been brewing all week for Remus Lupin. This elaborate potion was quite interesting, and she quickly became absorbed in the work and reading all the notes that came with it.

Professor Snape had been in and out of his chambers on several errands, and left instructions that she was able to stop after she had copied texts for two hours or completed twenty pages. She had copied more than that because of her interest in the specific potions, and felt cramped from slouching over at the desk. When she looked up, she noted that she completed both her requirements, and she prepared to leave. Ginny carried the new copies of the potions texts to the bookshelf.

She saw the pensieve and was careful to avoid it. She wasn't like Harry and curious to fall into one every time he found one. She rather felt that it was not anyone's business to know someone else's thoughts without permission. Perhaps it was merely an ethical matter, or it could have been reinforced by her early experiences with Tom. In either case, she most certainly did not want to encounter those swirling silver threads.

As she placed the books on the shelf she noticed how dusty and dirty it was. All the dust in the dank dungeon made Ginny react very much like David Tompkins. She sneezed violently, stumbling backwards into the shelf. When she hit the shelf, several objects fell to the floor, but she was too caught up in a sneezing fit to notice.

Ginny continued to sneeze and stumble around the room near the bookshelf. She had such a fit that she lost her balance and stomped her feet several times. She realized it was serious when her foot collided with something that felt like a bowl. She heard a sound like the breaking of china and felt the sensation of warm goo all over her foot. She opened her eyes to see that she'd broken Professor Snape's pensieve beyond all possible repair.

Only seconds later Snape returned to the room. He noticed the damage immediately. "What do you think you're doing!" he roared at her.

Ginny only stared dumbly down at the mess. It was slithering away like mercury that had been set free. "I'm sorry, Professor. I sneezed," she said to him in bewilderment.

"Miss Weasley, you did a purposeful destruction of my private possessions! I can't ever get those back," he snarled in accusation.

"I did not!" she yelled back defensively. Foregoing her usual respect with teachers, she was ready to challenge him. "If your chambers weren't so dirty, maybe I wouldn't be sneezing! Don't you have a house elf you torture like the rest of your Slytherins?"

"Miss Weasley..." he warned.

"No, I know what it is," she continued to rage. "You're such a greasy-haired git, you would never know what clean was even if it bit you in the..."

"Enough! I will not have such disrespect from a student!"

Unlike his normal bluster, he was in a quiet rage, and it wasn't the first time this month that she had seem him this way. He came to her and said in a deceptively calm voice, "I should have known better than to trust a Gryffindor. You're not brave. The whole lot of you are raving idiots! Leave. Now!"

Ginny backed away from the Potions Master, but he followed her as she was backing out of the room.

"There _will_ be repercussions. Goodbye, Miss Weasley."

###

**October 16th, afternoon**

If Ginny wondered what Snape's idea of repercussions might be, she didn't have long to wait. She was summoned to Professor McGonagall's office right after lunch the next day. She had no doubt that this would involve her recent turn of bad luck in everything related to Professor Snape. Blast Snape for being so Snape and McGonagall for being so egalitarian.

"Sit down, Miss Weasley," McGonagall began when she entered. "As I am sure you are aware, your performance lately with Professor Snape have been unacceptable. For that reason, I have been asked to exact a special reprimand."

Ginny's eyes darted around the room. "What will you do?"

Minerva McGonagall looked without malice at her student. "This will hurt me as much as it does you, Ginny."

Ginny sunk lower in her chair because that was the sort of thing her mother said to her before something truly horrible happened.

"At this time, it seems the best course of action is to temporarily remove your new broom from your possession," the witch said in very logical and legal-sounding tones.

Ginny gasped with shock and looked up, but immediately drew her gaze back down to the fingers in her lap. She tried to ask in an even voice, "Will I still be allowed to play in the game?"

"Yes, you will, though it is the opinion of your Potions professor that you should be removed from the game as well." McGonagall said tiredly, "I had quite the difficult time in getting him to agree to keep you in the game."

"Yes, Professor." Ginny replied while blinking hard to keep the mist from her eyes.

"I am truly sorry, Miss Weasley," McGonagall said before finishing on a business-like note. "Leave your broom with me. You are dismissed."

Ginny got up to leave the room, but before she could go, a thought came to her. "Professor, do I still have to go back to Professor Snape's office to copy texts?"

"No, you don't. I think you found the one sure way to make him never want to see you again unless it is absolutely necessary," McGonagall said with an almost undetectable hint of humor.

###

When Ginny left Professor McGonagall's office she was hurt and angry. She pushed and shoved everyone in her way to get where she was going. She was in the mood that she would have loved to have a beater bat in her hand and whack a few inanimate objects. Instead, Ginny blindly rushed head-long into someone standing in the hallway and almost knocked him down to the floor.

She looked up to see that it was Remus Lupin with a steaming goblet in his hand. A crushing feeling of guilt smothered her as she looked him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Professor." Ginny looked honestly remorseful. "That wasn't anything valuable, I hope," she said as she gestured to the contents spilled over his robes and the floor.

"Nothing important except Wolfsbane Potion," he sighed, looking at the mess.

"Oh, that's right!" she gasped as she forgot her own problems and remembered that the full moon would be that night. "I am so sorry," Ginny said miserably. "It's just that I was so mad, I wasn't thinking about what I was doing."

"You might have to learn to control your temper, Ginny," he said while he was trying to wipe the mess away from his clothing.

She laughed apologetically. "Charlie did always call me a hot-head! He said my temper was worse than a dragon's when..."

Lupin put his hand on her shoulder, making her stop mid-sentence. "I am sorry to cut this short, but I really have to go." He turned and walked away quickly through the crowd of students.

"I'm sorry," she said again in a very quiet voice to his retreating back.

As she continued to walk down the hallway at a much slower pace, Ginny heard a voice she had learned to hate. "Oh-ho! What now, Weasley? Have you grown tired of Potter and are now trying to spread for that werewolf?"

She whirled to see Draco looking as haughty as ever standing a few short feet away. "Are you everywhere?" she asked with exasperation. "You are worse than Filch and Mrs. Norris!"

"Worse?" He actually looked contemplative as he said the word. "I don't think it's possible to be worse than a blood traitor like you, Weasley."

Ginny marched right up to him, standing toe to toe and nose to nose. "Malfoy, you aren't even worth the effort of getting angry, but I am so glad you're in your seventh year because after this I don't have to see your pointed, pale face ever again."

She searched his face before her expression relaxed to one of cruel musing. "Maybe if I get really lucky, you can go visit your father in Azkaban. Permanently!"

She turned to walk away but Draco caught her by the wrist.

"Gerroff, Malfoy!" Ginny looked ready to strike.

He removed his hand quickly as if he'd just been singed. He gave an assessing look to her angry gaze while he massaged his hand. Having nothing at that moment to say, however snide, he left without comment.

###

After the evening meal, Ginny returned to the common room and sat beside Harry on a sofa in front of the fire. She noted the darkness of the sky and realized the full moon would rise soon.

"I heard you bumped in to Remus today," Harry mentioned conversationally.

"Yes. Literally," she frowned. "I made him spill most of his Wolfsbane Potion. I felt awful! Most of the time, I forget that he's even a werewolf."

"I don't think he ever forgets. You never saw him as much as I did back when he was teaching here. When we were working on the Patronus charm, he always looked so sick." Harry shrugged in thinking about it. "If I didn't like him so much, I would probably feel sorry for him."

"I just don't know what to say to him, Harry. He's not our teacher anymore, and then Sirius died. I mean, I thought I heard once that he and Sirius were..." She blushed and looked away. "Never mind."

Harry nodded slowly. "I know, but I try not to think about it. That really isn't any of my business."

"It _is_ your business. You both loved the same person and lost him." Ginny looked deeply concerned for Harry.

In one of his rare moments of complete honesty about his emotions, Harry admitted, "I've lost others and will probably lose many more before this war is over. It won't change things, Ginny."

She leaned over to hug him low around his chest. "Harry, you know that we are all here for you. Sometimes a burden seems lighter when you share it."

Harry stroked her hair but did not answer.

"You can share if you want to," she said into this chest, though her voice was muffled. "No pressure, of course," she emphasized as she looked up at him.

"I know," he said.

He did know that quite well, but he was still learning to express himself without shouting as he had done so often after Voldemort returned. Open talk about feelings seemed to be more natural to the Weasleys who were a large and loving family. It was even more essential for them so that they could get what attention they needed. It was a polar opposite to the non-magical invisibility that Harry had practiced during the ten years with the Dursleys before he came to Hogwarts.

Harry chose to change the subject to something he hoped would bring happier thoughts. "So how do you think we will do against Ravenclaw in the game next week?" He winked at her.

Ginny wanted to smile, but her face froze in a frown. "McGonagall took my new broom. She said it was punishment for having made a mess of everything with Professor Snape."

He gasped in disbelief at the crime. "Not the broom that the twins got you!"

She sighed, "Yes, that broom."

He frowned in true sympathy for her loss. His own broom was the one material possession that he treasured above most anything else in the world. Part of it, of course, was that it reminded him of Sirius. He took extra special care of the broom. It's not that he had ever really neglected it before, but the care of it became a ritual that in its own way honored his fallen godfather.

"At least she didn't exclude you from the game," he said in attempted consolation.

"I know," Ginny said while sitting up and stretching. "It just would have been so much more fun with my new broom!"

Harry watched her stand up to leave and offered, "There's always the next game."

She gave him a small tight-lipped smile before going up to her room.

###

Harry and the team had several practices over the week after Ginny had to turn over her broom. Harry said he didn't want to leave anything to chance when it came to a win. Ginny worked hard, venting her frustration with authority, and tried to focus it on making herself play better than ever. The others on the team silently admired her determination, and they tried to make sure their game performance was as perfect as possible.

On the Saturday of the game, the entire Gryffindor team ate breakfast in the Great Hall together. As they were dressed in their team robes, they got a few cheers from members of their own house and sympathetic Hufflepuffs and the obligatory jeers from the Slytherin table. Being that Ravenclaw was their first opponent of the term, the friends they had made in the other house did not cheer for Gryffindor this time.

When they were finished with their meal, they rose as one in a similar manner to that which Harry had taught them on the Quidditch pitch. As the Gryffindor team was walking together out of the Great Hall, Hobie stopped by the Ravenclaw table near Luna Lovegood, Artemis Florin and David Tompkins.

"Lovely day for a Quidditch match, isn't it?" He tried to use his charm that had won him several fan girls.

"Sorry, Hobie, but I can't cheer for Gryffindor this time," Luna stated. "I can't even find the hat any more."

"Hmmm, well, thanks, Luna." He turned his attention to the other girl in the group and projected an air if confidence. "Artemis, you goddess, are you going to the match?"

She looked to Hobie and said a demure "Yes."

"Would you care to place a wager on the outcome of the game?" He flirtatiously eyed her with interest.

"Absolutely. I can bet on a sure thing. Ravenclaw will win!" Artemis smiled sweetly.

"So... if Gryffindor wins, you can take me to the Halloween Ball, but if Ravenclaw wins, I'll take you to the Halloween Ball." He winked and used one of his most winning smiles.

She looked at him suspiciously and then stood up to shake his hand. "It's a bet! I will be seeing you at the game, Mr. Simmons!"

"And at the Halloween Ball, too. Don't you just love those bets where everybody wins?" He smiled again with happiness that could not be contained.

"I do." She gave him a serious look before breaking into soft chuckling.

Hobie ran to catch up with the rest of his team, especially Dina to tell her of his date. He'd actually gotten the gorgeous sixth year to go with him. There was nothing that could spoil this day.

###

The game itself happened very quickly with a predictable Gryffindor win. Though Ginny flew a Comet instead of her Pleiades, she scored several goals. She tried to cheer herself that she hadn't had the new broom long enough to be used to it, and the school broom she rode was much like the brooms her brothers had.

Harry was far better than the Seeker for Ravenclaw, who didn't even fare well in comparison to Ravenclaw's own Cho Chang. It was such an easy victory that Harry had to give the team a different pep talk after it was over. He mentally kicked himself that this was the kind of insanity done by someone like Oliver Wood. He wanted to make sure his team didn't get complacent because not all games are so easily won. Just because they had been champions for years did not mean they would always be champions without solid work and skills behind it.

At the end of the team meeting, Harry reminded them that practice would continue on Tuesday morning without fail. Then with a more relaxed attitude he dismissed his team to the party that was sure to be happening in Gryffindor tower.

They left as a group, but Ron Weasley had several things on his mind not related to the game, so he returned much later than the rest of his teammates. When he entered the common room, the whole house was in the midst of celebrating their game victory. It was rounds of butterbeers and sweets for all. There were even a few choruses of singing "Weasley is our King". Some people changed the lyrics to "Weasley is our Queen" to show support for Ginny's spectacular goals. It was quite the jovial mood with festive people all around.

Dina was sitting near Colin smiling prettily at him. He was raptly listening to all the airborne details of the game and was chatting about the excellent photographs he had taken of the team, especially her. When Hobie wasn't gloating about his being able to go to the Halloween Ball with Artemis, he was teasing Dina and Colin about their own fresh turn as a couple. Ron, who had other couple thoughts on his mind, avoided them.

Instead, the Keeper went to find that one special someone he wished to keep most of all. Ginny's words annoyingly echoed in his mind's ear that the time was wasting. He walked over to the chair at the edge of the group where Hermione had been sitting and greeted her awkwardly.

"Great game, wasn't it?" He shuffled his feet and ran his hands through his hair. _Great start, Ron!_ he mentally chided himself.

Hermione benignly smiled. "You know I only go to those games because of you, Harry and Ginny."

When Ron's face showed his disappointment, she added, "But it was a good game. Gryffindor usually plays well, though, so it wasn't that much of a surprise."

Ron rolled his eyes. If this was to become the kind of talk he had intended, this was not the way to go about it.

"Hermione, would you like to take a walk with me?" He held out his hand to her.

She finally did look surprised then. "Yes," she said curiously as she took his hand.

They grabbed their jackets and walked out of the common room together.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric from this chapter is "As Sure As I Am" performed by Crowded House on the album _Woodface_.


	5. Surprise!

**CHAPTER 5:  
Surprise!**

_This is the place that I loved her  
And these are the friends that she had.  
Long may the mountain ring to the sound of her laughter.  
_~Neil Finn

Both of them knew that they weren't supposed to be out on the grounds after hours, and this was nearly pushing that limit. They hadn't been made prefects or Head Boy and Girl for nothing. This time, though, it was more important than others, and both somehow knew it.

Even though he realized it was now or never, as Ginny had warned him, Ron still felt nervousness all through him. His big hands were sweating profusely, and he rubbed them apprehensively on this robes. When he glanced over at Hermione, she looked on the outside to be as self-possessed as she had ever been. He damned her for appearing so calm and loved her all the more because it was part of what made her Hermione.

"Would you like to go to the Forbidden Forest?" she asked suddenly, shaking him out of his thoughts.

"No!" He looked at her as if she were possessed of some madness. "I have had my fill of gigantic spiders and murderous centaurs for one lifetime!"

"I wasn't being serious," she smiled. "But at least you're talking now."

"Oh, right. Talking." He _had_ brought her outside for a reason. He took a deep breath and started to talk without censure. "It's been a long time since we were in fourth year. You looked really pretty at the Yule Ball, you know."

Hermione looked both surprised and pleased with his compliment, but he had to go on rambling in his clueless boy way.

"The thing is, you're not the most beautiful girl in school. Lavender and Parvati are prettier than you are. So is Padma, but she _is_ Parvati's twin," Ron said in contemplation.

Hermione choked at his words. "You decided to go for a walk with me so you could insult me? That's low, even for you, Ron!"

Ron had the nerve to appear insulted himself. "Well, you're _not_ the prettiest, and don't expect me to lie about it."

"What do you want?" she asked him with an air of exasperation.

"I want you to go with me to the Halloween Ball!" he blurted.

"Telling me I am uglier than Pansy Parkinson isn't the way to get me to go with you, Ron!"

"I didn't say that, and you don't understand me," Ron said hotly. "Will you let me finish?"

She crossed her arms in front of herself in a defiant stance and nodded for him to continue.

"I said you're not the prettiest in school, but do you really want to know something strange? You're beautiful to _me_." His shouted words came out in a rush.

When Ron saw Hermione's shocked expression, he added defensively, "Well, love makes everyone see people differently."

Because she still hadn't said anything, Ron's worry deepened. "What? Only Harry and Ginny are supposed to know what that is?"

After he spoke, his insides were telling him to retreat while there was still time to save the remaining shreds of his dignity.

"You want me to be your date to the Halloween Ball..." For Hermione who had mastered almost every bit of book knowledge that had been thrown at her, the fact that Ron had finally asked her was quite the challenge. She was still wrapping her brain around it when Ron spoke next.

"No," he blushed hotly in the dark and was glad she couldn't see it. Hermione was equally glad he couldn't see her look of disappointment in the darkness.

"As my girlfriend. I had a _date_ with Padma, but she's never been my girlfriend. That makes you more..." Ron momentarily let silence enfold him. "It means you're more important to me than other girls, and you always have been. There! Are you satisfied?"

Hermione merely nodded. All her book smarts failed her at that time.

"I love you, Hermione Granger, and if you don't go with me to the Halloween Ball, I'll... I'll throw myself in the lake! I'll live with the merpeople and visit the giant squid. It could be a good life, I suppose..." He looked off across the lake and avoided eye contact.

"Of course I will go with you, Ron!" She was so excited that tears started leaking out of her eyes. "I always did have a thing for a certain red-haired Weasley," she admitted quietly.

Ron turned to her with a look of concern. "Does Harry know?"

"What? What does Harry have to do with this?" If Hermione was confused by his confession of love, she was equally confused by his quick change of subject.

"Well, if you've got it for my sister Ginny, you should probably tell Harry you fancy his girlfriend. It could really make things complicated, but if that's what you really want, who am I to stop you?" He had fully regained his humor and was shaking with mirth.

"Ron!" she punched him on the arm.

"Oww!" he pouted and protested with much drama.

"Baby!" Her eyes glittered. "Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?"

Ron momentarily stopped his mock complaining as he considered it, and then he returned to moaning and groaning with even more melodrama.

Hermione stood on her toes and tried to daintily kiss him on the cheek. Just as she neared his face, Ron quickly turned to put his arms around her and kiss her properly on the mouth. In their enthusiasm, they fell to the ground. Hermione only looked up at him and smiled a truly soul-satisfied smile.

They stayed on the grounds in front of the lake a long time kissing in each others' arms. When the time had passed beyond propriety, they got up and ran back to the castle. Hermione was picking tell-tale pieces of grass and leaves from her hair and laughing all the way back to the common room.

###

Ron and Hermione eased themselves back into the party without making too much of a spectacle of themselves. At least, that is what they thought they did. Though he was animatedly discussing the Quidditch victory with the rest of the boys and several of the girls, Ron kept shooting pleased looks at Hermione. She, on the other hand, had been chatting very animatedly with the other girls, even ones like Lavender and Parvati with whom she normally kept very little company.

Ron practically floated back to his bedroom at the end of the night as if Hermione herself had incanted _Wingardium Leviosa_ as she had that day back in their first year. Not a thing was going to get him down because all was right in the world.

Except for one thing. Ron had a best friend named Harry who was also Hermione's best friend. He would not hear the end of this.

"So, mate, how'd it go?" Harry whispered from his bed.

Ron fought between giving him an annoyed look and telling him the events of the night. He really didn't want to share the special moment that had transpired between him and Hermione, so he chose to make Harry wait by avoiding the question.

"It wasn't a very good walk. It was rather chilly out there. I would have rather had a butterbeer back here." He then yawned exaggeratedly as a diversion tactic.

Harry was having none of it and uncharacteristically snorted. "Sure. If that's your story."

"What, Harry? I just went for a walk by the lake with our best friend." Ron wasn't doing a very good job of sounding innocent or indignant.

"Okay, I get it–you don't want to tell me." Harry threw up his hands and went back lying on his bed. "I'll just leave you alone."

"Thank you!" Ron huffed.

A moment of silence passed until Harry added, "By the way, Ron... your shirt is inside out. It's been that way ever since you came back from your 'walk'."

Ron heard Harry's uncontrollable laughter and blushed with more ferocity than he'd ever done. He threw his blankets over his head and hid in mortification from the rest of the world.

###

The week leading up to the Halloween Ball was filled with excitement for the student body. Students who had waited to find a partner were scurrying to find dates. Those who did have dates seemed to spend more time with their respective partners. For Ginny it was exactly how the world should be.

The best part of it all was the shiny, new and official couple, Ron and Hermione. Ginny smiled at them every time she saw them together with an almost proprietary air. Most of the rest of the students and many of the teachers thought that it was due time that the pair had finally become a couple. They, on the other hand, knew little of the rest of the world around them as they were encapsulated into their own personal bubble.

Life as they knew it went on for the rest of the students, though. On the Thursday right before the dance and Ginny's birthday, Harry decided to have Quidditch practice. Ginny had gotten back her Pleiades 7 so she could use it, and Harry had suggested forgoing the Saturday practice because of the busy events on Friday. Harry worked the team hard, and when Ginny returned to Gryffindor tower she trudged up to bed and fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.

Ginny was in the middle of having another recurring nightmare of Tom when a hand reached out of nowhere and grabbed her on the mouth. She awoke with a jolt, completely disoriented in her surroundings, but the hand stifled her screams. Her heart raced and she reached for her wand, but it wasn't there.

When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that it was Hermione who had awoken her so horribly. The older girl had her finger to her lips in a sign of silence. Ginny nodded almost imperceptibly. When Hermione was satisfied that Ginny would be quiet, she took her by the hand and led her in the darkness out of her room and down the stairs to the common room.

When they arrived, Hermione took her hand off Ginny, who turned to her worriedly. "What's wrong, Hermione?" she asked in a quiet and urgent voice.

"I had something I couldn't do without you. This is important," Hermione replied full of drama and urgency.

"What?" Ginny asked as she worriedly started to stroke her own arms.

Hermione, playing her part to the fullest, looked to Ginny with a look of deepest sorrow. "It's just this," she said as she held her wand aloft and shouted. _"LUMOS!"_

At Hermione's call, the others who had been quietly assembled in the darkness of the common room held up their wands to light the room. Without waiting for Ginny to catalogue all their faces, each of the gathered Gryffindors shouted "Happy Birthday!" to her.

She stared in shock at each one of them. Harry, Ron and the rest of the Quidditch team were there with several of the other friends she had, including Lavender, Parvati, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Colin and Dennis. On the low table in front of the fire was a cake, flagons of pumpkin juice, and an assortment of presents from her friends.

Ginny's eyes misted with tears of surprise. The act of friendship left a humbling feeling inside of her. She went with a smile to each person who had gathered and gave a hug of thanks.

Several of Ginny's friends inundated her with presents all at once. Hermione, ever a practical witch, subtly guided Ginny to sit in the seat of honor by the fireplace and the table so she could open her gifts in front of everyone. Ron, Hermione and Harry gave chocolates and sweets, but all three together bought Ginny her own owl. She didn't realize that she wanted one, but upon seeing the gift, she knew it was perfect.

"I know Pigwidgeon is practically yours, but Sirius did give him to me," Ron started to explain.

"And I know you love animals, especially cats," Hermione supplied.

"But this owl really needed someone to love it and take care of it," Harry finished.

The wonder in Ginny's eyes showed her appreciation for the present before she could even say the words. "He's wonderful!" she said almost reverently.

"What will you name him?" Dennis asked her from across the room.

Ginny paused and looked over to her brother. Since she had named his owl, it seemed almost right that he should name hers. "Ron, would you…"

He smiled widely and refused. "He's your owl, Ginny. You name him."

"Fahren," she replied after a moment's thought.

"Very Muggle of you," Harry joked as he came up behind her and pulled her into a hug. "Mr. Weasley would be proud."

Ginny laughed and smiled at him as she took her new owl to perch in the new cage that had been given to her as an accompaniment gift from both Neville and Luna. She made sure to give it several owl treats before walking back to the crowd of her friends.

"Open mine next, please," Colin urged Ginny after she had settled her new owl.

She smiled at him and took the rectangle-shaped package from his hands. Without ceremony she ripped off the paper and found an ornate silver picture frame.

"It's beautiful," she said in appreciation and thanks. Then Ginny kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Colin blushed at the kiss and said in return, "That's not nearly as beautiful as this."

He tapped the top of the frame with his wand and Ginny's photo appeared inside it. In the photo she was standing in the sunlight on the lawn of Hogwarts with a huge smile on her face and her vibrant red hair blowing in the breeze.

"That is the one I took in September, and I wanted to save it for a special occasion," Colin said.

"Wow," Ginny said in a small voice because it really was a stunning image. "You really are a great photographer," she sputtered.

Colin smiled softly, though his delight at her compliment was shown clearly in his eyes. He stepped back for another of Ginny's friends to give her a present. She received several more odds and ends, and the group laughed and enjoyed the party until two in the morning when Hermione decided to go back into Head Girl mode and threaten them with not being able to attend the Halloween Ball if they didn't get enough sleep.

###

**October 31st **

**Hogsmeade, afternoon**

The students were required to attend their morning classes, so their trip to Hogsmeade did not begin until midday. Most chose not to eat in the Great Hall because they preferred to fill themselves on sweets or other treats in the shops. Quickly after their classes, the students flooded the town in their excitement to be free.

Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione met at the Great Hall when their classes were over and walked to Hogsmeade together. One of the first destinations the two couples went to was the same shop where Harry had gone with Cho back in his fifth year. He hadn't returned since, and at first he felt edgy because it brought back uncomfortable memories.

It was cutesy and romantic, but not really what the four wanted to do. They decided to go their separate ways for a while. Ginny teased that it if they left them alone for a while, they would be sure to come up with a surprise they'd love. Hermione, being practical about her male friends suggested they go find something in Zonko's to explode, and that worked well enough for Ron who pulled Harry away.

After the boys were safely doing boy things, Hermione and Ginny raced giggling for the dress shop to get some last minute frills for the ball. Immediately upon entering, Ginny saw the very dress she wanted. It was a perfect emerald green with a heart neckline and thin waist that would show off her feminine side.

She asked to try on the dress while Hermione herself was finding a dress to her liking. Ginny came out of the changing room and twirled around in the shiny green dress. The color really complimented her flaming hair and smooth complexion so that she looked fantastic. Hermione said Ginny reminded her of one of the princesses or witches from Arthurian legend.

"This is the perfect dress for the ball! Thanks to all my friends, I can buy the dress, too!" the younger girl enthused.

"I'm happy for you, Ginny," Hermione said distractedly as she fingered a set of tortoiseshell hair combs.

Seeing the small motion, Ginny turned and looked. "Those are pretty. They would really look nice in your hair and bring out the sparkly highlights."

Hermione laughed derisively at the notion that she had highlights in her hair or anything else good about the bushy mess on her head. "My hair is hopeless! It's just lucky for me that your brother is, too. He'll be happy no matter what I wear."

Ginny agreed when Hermione showed her the slim-fitting sleeveless red dress with a low-cut back that she was planning on wearing to the Ball. It was so daring that it didn't seem like something the sensible Hermione would wear, but Gryffindor bravery might in this case be applied to fashion choices.

After Ginny stopped staring at Hermione, she said with a sound of approval in her voice, "Ron will love that."

There was no doubt he was going to love the dress. Ginny was willing to wager that he might spontaneously combust before the first dance was over.

###

After the dress excursion, the two witches met their respective wizards at the Three Broomsticks for butterbeers. Several of the other students were already there, including Hobie with Artemis, Dina, Colin, Luna and David. The mixed Ravenclaw and Gryffindor couples seemed to be having an uproarious time at their corner table. The quartet waved and smiled to them before selecting their own vantage underneath one of the windows.

"Did you find anything interesting at Zonko's?" Hermione began conversationally.

"Of course not!" Ron said with a hint of brotherly pride. "Nothing beats Weasley's Wizard Wheezes."

"Maybe your brothers want to expand the business and open another shop here since they are so successful," she stated pragmatically.

"I don't know that Hogwarts could ever survive with them coming back. They'd be such horrible influences on the students," Ginny said in mocking tones.

"That sounds like reason enough for Fred and George," Harry commented.

Ginny turned to her boyfriend to ask, "Did you get anything, Harry?"

"A few chocolate frogs. Nothing special except this," he said as he put a present down on the table.

Ginny looked at it skeptically. "Did this come from Zonko's or Honeyduke's?"

"Honeyduke's. You're getting suspicious in your old age. Now happy birthday and open it up!" He teased her so that the brilliance of his smile lit up his green eyes.

When Ginny opened the package, it was one of her favorite chocolate bars. The simplicity of the gift made it endearing to her. "Thank you, Harry," she said before kissing him on the cheek.

Across from them Ron and Hermione were holding hands. Ron kept shooting looks at Hermione as if he would like to be kissing her again. Hermione was looking back at him in much the same way so that she appeared flushed from all the blushing she was doing.

"Ron," a feminine voice interrupted his thoughts.

"What?" he said in annoyance as he realized it was Ginny and not Hermione talking sweetly to him.

"Kiss her!" Ginny encouraged with a laugh. "You know you want to!"

"Ginny, please," Hermione protested with a hot blush.

At the same time, Ron said, "I can't kiss her in public!"

Harry laughed because he remembered their conversation after the Quidditch victory party. "You don't have a problem with kissing her in private, though!"

"Harry!" Ron whined at his best friend's teasing.

"Ron," Hermione said while gently putting her hand on top of his.

"What?" he asked with a miserable sound in his voice. He turned to her just as she brought her lips over to his cheek and kissed him softly.

He looked dazed after the fairly innocent kiss. Despite the presence of the others around him, he decided to give in to his wants, and he kissed her back several times.

"If you keep kissing me, my hair will be mussed," Hermione joked. Everyone at the table knew her normal state of hair was almost uncontrollably bushy.

"I like your hair the way it is," Ron said.

"That's what I told Ginny," Hermione said to Ron and then offered Ginny a wink.

Ginny laughed at them. Ron was obviously madly in love with Hermione, but unlike all the rest of the time he'd loved her, it was now out in the open.

The two couples continued to enjoy their time at the Three Broomsticks until the strike of the clock. All the students realized at the sound that it was time to leave the pub if they were to make it back to Hogwarts and, consequently, the dance on time. They rose from their chairs to go, a few of them grudgingly and some others with animated anticipation.

"I can't wait to dance with you at the Ball tonight, Ginny," Harry said in her ear while they were walking.

Ginny could not believe what she was hearing. "Harry, are you ill? You actually want to dance?"

"If it's the right girl, I do," he said while looking at her pointedly. "And it is my girl's birthday."

"Yes, life is good," she smiled as they walked and hugged each other at the wait.

As they were making their way back to the castle, Ginny remembered Hermione's genuine liking for the combs they had seen in the fancy dress shop. She knew her friend had few concessions toward vanity, and she wanted to make Hermione as happy as she had made her with the surprise birthday party. Even though they were supposed to be going back, Ginny thought she could quickly fetch them and return without any problems.

Ginny resolved then and there to go back to the shop and buy the combs for her friend as a gift. Hermione might even be able to wear them tonight when she was on her date with Ron. It would simply be marvelous.

"Oh, I forgot something, Harry. Let me run back and get it. I won't be just a moment."

"Ginny, we're supposed to stick together. It's time to go," Harry pointed out the time as they were going back to the castle and to ready for the Halloween Ball.

"I know, but I don't want to spoil the surprise!" She tried to convince him with another one of her winning smiles.

"Surprise for whom?" he asked with eyes narrowed.

Ginny laughed. "Not for you, Harry, but it's a good surprise. You'll see. And for the record, Mr. Potter, since when have you been known to follow the rules?"

"You're not supposed to go alone, Gin." he replied firmly.

She sighed in frustration. "You know, you're starting to sound like Hermione when she's determined to follow the rules! Look, I won't take long; I swear. The longer we talk about it, the longer it will take me to run and get back."

Harry looked at her skeptically.

"I'll be fine!" Ginny assured him. "Now go, or else I'll hex you!"

Harry paused and kissed her on the cheek before catching up with the others. Little did he know at the time that Ginny's last words to him in Hogsmeade would haunt him for many months to come.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric used for this chapter is from "She Goes On" performed by Crowded House on the album _Woodface_.


	6. Acts of Sacrifice

**CHAPTER 6:  
Acts of Sacrifice**

_I know I'm right for the first time in my life.  
That's why I tell you. You'd better be home soon.  
_~Neil Finn

Ginny rushed back to the shop where she and Hermione had been before meeting the boys for butterbeers. She knew how much Hermione liked the tortoiseshell hair combs and that she would never get them for herself. It was simply too frivolous and girly for the Head Girl. Ginny's pockets were heavier with birthday money than they'd ever been before, and she thought there could be nothing to make her happier than to spend it on one of her friends. It would be a wonderful surprise for Hermione and Ron at the dance.

As she rushed to the store to gather the package, she tried to make a shortcut through one of the alleys. As someone who had already experienced Dark magic at a young age, she tried to keep aware of her surroundings as she went. She made it to the shop quickly and without incident.

"Madam Stone," Ginny breathlessly asked the shopkeeper, "I wanted to buy those tortoiseshell combs my friend was looking at earlier."

Madam Stone smiled kindly to the young witch. "Are you sure you still have enough money, dear?"

"Yes! Today is my birthday," Ginny said with a smile and indirect explanation.

"A-ha, well then you shall have them," the witch said jovially and quickly completed the transaction.

Ginny stuffed the small package into a pocket in her robes and happily bounced out of the shop on her way back to Hogwarts.

She felt proud of herself and high on happiness, but it was then that her defenses were at their lowest. As she crossed into one of the less public parts of Hogsmeade, she realized she was being followed. Her guess was that there were at least two men, and it seemed that there might be a third with them. Ginny took out her wand defensively as she made her way though the streets.

The footfalls of pursuers came loudly on Ginny's ears, so she began to run faster away from them. When she sped up, so did the ones tracking her. Using her talent with the bat bogey hex, she aimed over her shoulder and got one of the men chasing her. She congratulated herself inwardly as she would when scoring a goal, but she kept moving.

Unfortunately, she couldn't move fast enough away from one of the hidden men, and she was quickly disarmed.

"_Expelliarmus!" _one yelled, and Ginny's wand flew from her hand. Ginny cursed herself for falling for one of the oldest dueling spells in the book.

She turned around to face the one who had taken her wand, and she scanned the area around her for a potential weapon that she could use for non-magical combat. She was a Weasley and a Gryffindor, and she would not go down so easily without a fight. Her heart pounded in her chest as she saw the men come out of the shadows and walk closer to her.

Before she could use her voice again and scream, one incanted, _"Silencio!"_

Still she tried to run, but one aimed a spell at her back that finished her capture._ "Petrificus Totalus!"_

Ginny was felled as surely as a mighty tree in a forest cut down by a lumberjack. Though she was petrified, she knew all of her surroundings in its sounds, colors, odors and associated tastes. She smelled the copper of her own blood and felt the warmth of it as it dripped from the cut she got from her head as she fell to the rocks of the street, and Ginny also tasted the blood inside her mouth where she had accidentally bitten herself as she fell. Because she could do nothing to free herself, she felt like she was trapped in amber.

Her eyes were quickly covered with a blindfold so that her world was made dark. Then the group of captors took Ginny's frozen body and made their way to one of the most disreputable parts of Hogsmeade. One of the men paid to stay in a room with a fireplace on the Floo network while the others waited outside in disguise. When the rental of the room was purchased, the group used the Floo to return from wherever they had come, taking Ginny with them away from Hogsmeade, Hogwarts and the safety of her friends.

###

Jonathan Moss was both young and handsome. He had rich, dark hair and lovely blue eyes, which were usually twinkling with joy. He was immediately likeable to most everyone who met him. He had the air of a "people-person," something that was very much needed for his work at Gringotts Wizard Bank. He successfully interfaced with goblins, Muggles and Wizards when many others did not have the flexibility to do so.

His bright personality also kept him off the radar of Dark magic. He smiled too often and told sincere jokes. He was esteemed by his peers to have quite a keen intellect and an admirable work ethic. As Bill Weasley had assessed, Jonathan was a "nice bloke," and he wasn't an overly conceited one who brought undue attention to himself.

To those who knew him intimately, Jonathan seemed the living embodiment of dichotomy. While it was true that he was both pleasant and charming, he was also capable of being completely destructive while appearing to all to be as pure as the freshly fallen snow. He had taken advantage of the confusion and terror that comes from war and had begun to serve his own peculiar interests.

Jonathan was interested in people. He wanted people of his own, and he wanted to see what their limits were. How much pain could a man stand before he would break or go insane? He sometimes felt an affinity with Muggle scientists because he loved to observe and see the possibility of all action.

He even had a hero of sorts among the Muggles, a lovely German doctor who had been named Josef. To Moss, Josef's twin studies had been pure brilliance. The victims of the Angel of Death might have argued against him had they been able, but the end result was not Jonathan's interest, only the process. As such, he dismissed the disposal of human life at his own hands or from those of his idol Mengele.

It was with that sense of curiosity and excitement that he waited for the package that his men were bringing him from Hogsmeade. When they appeared, he made quick strides with his long legs to the point they had entered by Floo.

"Who did you bring me?" He took off his leather gloves and slapped them impatiently across his palm.

One of the thugs shoved the blindfolded Ginny forward and then pushed her down on her knees. He ground his elbow into her back, but she struggled against him.

"Oooh!" Moss cooed, "a ginger-haired spitfire. This could be fun!"

His eyes danced with delight. "Are there others, or did you only get me one this time?"

The one known as Theo sputtered, "We had enough trouble grabbing this one!" Seeing the child-like happiness on his boss's face change to something darker, he quickly amended, "Sir!"

Jonathan let Theo's insolence pass for the moment and kneeled beside Ginny. "She really does have lovely hair. Such a striking red that is." He stood up to declare, "Do not touch the hair. There will be no cutting or maiming for the sake of humiliation."

When one of the men looked surprised, he said in a smooth and confident voice, "I didn't say we wouldn't have a little fun with the girl. Do you think I've gone daft?" It wasn't a real question, and the minions were not stupid enough to answer it. "We just won't change the hair. Is that understood?"

They shuffled uncomfortably in their places, but mumbled something close enough to a "Yes" that Moss was satisfied.

Moss took out his wand and shouted a reinforcement curse at his new human pet. _"Silencio!"_ With Ginny unable to speak, he began his next task.

He motioned for Theo and his partner to move Ginny from the area in front of the Floo to a metal table in the center of a room in the dungeon. After they complied, Moss returned his gloves to his hands with the air of a surgeon getting ready for an operation. He reached inside his boot for the long dagger he carried there. He began to cut the clothes away from Ginny's body while alternately singing and whistling "London Bridge."

"_Falling down! Falling down!" _He sliced open the seam at her back and stopped to stare at her pale, freckled skin.

"Oh, this is nice. Very few blemishes. I would have to say you did a good job this time." He whistled again as he took his hands and ripped the robe the rest of the way down.

"_Build it up with rocks and sand, rocks and sand..." _Jonathan turned her over on her back to begin his work of removing the last scraps of her clothing and inspecting the rest of Ginny's naked form. His method was cold and clinical with the exception of the occasional bits of melody.

When Jonathan was done examining her, he sent the others away and waited in the room alone with Ginny. He walked around the table watching her and tapping his fingers to his chin in thought. When he came to a decision he took out his wand and performed an elaborate spell with several words Ginny did not know. It ended with her being enveloped in a purple flame. It continued to burn darkly until the flame became a yellow gold that disappeared.

Ginny felt herself tingle from head to foot, but unlike she feared, it did not hurt. It would be one of the few things about her time with Moss that did not actually cause physical or mental pain. She watched him as he stared at her and waited with apprehension for what would come.

Jonathan put away his wand and came over to where she lay on the table. His expression was clouded. Ginny looked up at him, and some part of her brain registered that he was really quite attractive. Tom Riddle had been attractive, too, and she had almost died because of him.

"I assume you will be wondering just why you are here and how long we intend to keep you. You will be mine until you no longer amuse me." He looked the length of her. "For now I find you highly amusing. The only question now is how this amusement and entertainment will present itself."

He paced by the table again, and stopped to speak at length. "I used to date this witch who was really into kinky sex," he said as he whispered low into her ear. "She taught me quite a few things, I must tell you!" He bawdily laughed and smiled off into the distance before continuing.

"One of the best things she taught me was the spell I just used on you. You see, she was quite the fan of Sacharissa Tugwood. I admire that in a person–having a hero, that is." He found a stool and brought it closer to the table so he could continue his story for her.

"You see, you've got beautiful skin and hair. You're simply lovely, do you realize that?" Jonathan's gloved fingers roamed over Ginny's exposed torso. "Truly, truly lovely." He looked at her face again while clasping his hands together. "So, I did the only thing I could do in this situation. I charmed you with a non-scarification spell. No matter what we do to you, there won't be any marks left on you from it. At lest not on the outside," he said with some amusement in his voice.

"Oh, sure, your mental scars might never heal, but I don't plan on giving you much time to dwell on that. I am not a total monster after all! But you know, Ginger... Do you mind if I call you Ginger?" He waited as if he expected an answer, which she couldn't give verbally since she was still under the Silencio curse.

"When I do kill you, and believe me that I will, I will use all this hair and skin of yours. I could make an excellent whip out of those flaming locks. It gives me a rise just thinking about it!" He shivered gleefully to himself. "I bet I could make a magnificent cat-o-nine-tails.

"And did you know that some people will pay to have dresses made out of flesh? I kid you not! It's really quite an exciting business." He looked at her critically again. "Others want to make lamp shades with human skin. That's rather odd if you ask me, but you already have skin that poets could consider luminescent. Maybe you would look good as a lamp.

"Of course there is the overseas market for internal organs, but that honestly doesn't interest me. Well, there is good money in that, sure, but a man has to have some fun! Right? I've got to spoil something, or what is the use in trying?"

He rocked on the back two legs of the stool contemplating. "Well, maybe that's it, Ginger. I could actually try this time to make as much damage as possible without scars and the like. It would be a challenge, but I can't see how it would really be any fun.

"Well," he said as he stood up, "you've given me quite a lot to think about, I must say. I'll have Robert bring you some food later. After all, I can't have my guest starve before I get a chance to play with her, can I? There would be no fun in that."

Jonathan walked out of the room softly humming "_Row, row, row your boat_." Meanwhile Ginny was still naked and bound to the cold metal table.

###

**12 Grimmauld Place, October 31st, evening**

Remus returned from yet another of the many small errands for the Order. He often regretted that they were still located at the Black house. It only reminded him that Sirius was gone. He'd lost twelve years with the only person he'd ever really loved, and even though Sirius had been returned to him for a time, he still ended up losing him in the end. If he were a cynical man, he'd say life was cruel, especially to him.

As it was, he was presently a tired man. It didn't cheer his spirits that Nymphadora Tonks thought of him as her personal charity project. She'd continually tried working on Order business with him and had generally been in his way. Maybe it was her way of trying to give comfort and be a friend. He thought differently, however, and as often as he tried to tell her he wasn't interested in her _that way_, she refused to acknowledge it.

He began undressing quietly in his room while singing softly to himself. Before he could remove his trousers, he heard a knock at his door and went to investigate. Most likely it was Tonks to offer some conversation that he wasn't in the mood to hear just then. When he opened the door she looked him up and down in a deliberate way. She was as clumsy with flirting as she was with almost everything else she did.

"Do you want something?" he asked her with impatience.

"A cup of sugar..." she said slowly, amused at the originality of her line. She reached out to drag her fingertips lightly across his bare chest.

"In the kitchen pantry," he said while turning her around to leave. "If that's all, I will talk to you in the morning." He tried to close his bedroom door, but she shoved her hand and foot back inside.

"But Remus!" she protested.

"Good night, Nymphadora!" he said with exasperation.

Tonks narrowed her eyes and pouted. "You know I hate it when you call me that."

"Yes, I know. Now go away so I can get some sleep." He successfully managed to get her away from his door and locked it behind her.

Remus shook his head to get her out of it. It wasn't that he honestly disliked her or even that she was so very annoying. It was that tonight his mind was many miles away, or more correctly sixteen years away when everything in his adult life had changed. It was on this day sixteen years ago that Lord Voldemort had murdered Lily and James Potter.

Remus continued his undressing and stared at the wizard photo he had of the group of friends that had been taken on James and Lily's wedding day. Every friendly face was there, happy and smiling back at him. Sirius, the joker even in photos, was trying to blow him a kiss while Remus finished divesting himself of all clothing. As Remus slipped his nude body between the sheets of the large and empty bed, he felt like he was the most alone person in the world.

###

**November 1st, morning**

Hands were reaching out into the darkness, hands that were touching everywhere including the most intimate places. Hands felt the legs and the tender skin of the thighs, higher still until they found the delicate center. The hands kept roaming all over without ceasing, touching and turning with a familiarity that should only be given to a precious few.

In the drowning darkness words were mumbled without coherency until a face appeared in the swirling mist. A cowled Sirius showed himself to Remus after having touched him with reverence and desire. The fear that had been gripping Remus gave way to melancholy as he saw the one he loved most dearly standing before him. Some part of him knew Sirius was gone, but Remus wanted to believe that this was truth.

Sirius began speaking, but Remus could not hear him. His lips were moving and they were putting him into a trance of desire and regret for all that he could not have. The wizard removed the cowl from his head and stepped closer to Remus. He stared into the other man's wide grey eyes and paused to reach up his fingers to touch his lips. Remus felt it like a brush of wind that had no beginning and no end.

Sirius leaned in to kiss Remus fully on the mouth, to which Remus responded with untamed hunger. The kisses were deep, passionate and insistent. They begged for life and to go on forever, but it was not so. Sirius pulled away to smile at Remus lovingly, and he placed his hands along his lover's jaw so he could look at him earnestly in the eyes. Remus did not want to stop kissing his fallen beloved and tried to resist the loss of contact.

Sirius smiled again to him, and opened his mouth to speak. This time when he spoke, Remus could hear him.

"You have to save her," Sirius warned him in a low voice that brooked no argument.

"Who?" Remus was too distracted by his proximity to Sirius to really care.

Sirius seemed stern as he warned, "Can't you hear her crying? You must go save her, Moony."

Remus started to listen and did indeed hear a female voice whimpering with agony to the deepest part of the soul.

"I hear it," he said softly as he looked to Sirius, who stroked his face.

As her cries started to get louder, Sirius set Remus free and stepped back into the mist of the dream. Remus tried to reach for Sirius, but he could not touch him.

"Padfoot, don't go!" Remus pleaded.

The female voice, heretofore incomprehensible, started to sound like speech. The ache and pounding on his ears crossed the threshold of understanding until Remus understood the first terrified words. /Help me!/

Sirius was more translucent than a ghost as he whispered. "You have to help her, Remus. You are her only hope."

"But what must I do? I don't understand!" he said frantically as he watched Sirius slip away from him in the illusive way as the pebbles of sand dripping away through the hour glass.

"Listen with your heart, Remus. It will guide you when all the magic around you will fail," Sirius said in the enigmatic way of dreams that is not very helpful in the waking. He then completely vanished into the mist leaving Remus alone.

"SIRIUS!" Remus shouted in pain as again his beloved was ripped from him.

Remus woke up in a cold sweat alone in bed with the sound of the girl's cries still echoing in his mind's ear and the feel of Sirius's kisses on his lips. When the rapid pounding of his heart had stilled, he was certain he'd had a horrible nightmare that was of no real importance. He threw his pillow over his head and tried in vain to find a peaceful sleep.

###

In the morning when Remus felt able to join the land of the living, he trudged down to the kitchen in search of a stout cup of coffee. There at the kitchen table he found Tonks and Alastor Moody barely eating the breakfast in front of them. They were instead speaking animatedly about some new crisis that had developed while he was sleeping.

Remus paid little attention to them as he staggered over to the source of his desired black liquid.

It was Moody who noticed and addressed him first. "You look like you went through two full moon transformations last night." Both men knew that the previous night had, in fact, been a new moon.

"I had some really strange dreams and didn't sleep well," he replied to Moody minimally. "I need something strong to start off the morning." Lupin rubbed the bridge of his nose and then reached for the coffee.

Tonks entered the conversation by saying, "When we tell you what we learned while you were getting your beauty sleep, you will need something stronger."

Lupin questioned her with a look, to which Tonks replied, "Ginny Weasley has been kidnapped."

"Voldemort!" Lupin cursed, spilling much of his coffee on the floor.

"We do not know that with complete certainty," Moody began pragmatically, "but it would likely be so. There have been a series of child abductions lately, and it is believed to be the work of Death Eaters."

"Yes, yes! I know. I read the papers just as much as you do." Lupin took a drink of his coffee and tried to mentally digest this new development. "How are Author and Molly?"

"Frantic with worry." Tonks said succinctly.

"The young Weasley was taken from Hogsmeade yesterday while a group of Hogwarts students were spending the day there. Tonks and I plan on starting there for gathering information." Moody moved his things away from the table and gestured that he was ready to begin their search.

"Were any others taken?" Remus asked the other two.

"No others, it seems," Tonks replied.

Lupin nodded at her comment. "While you go to Hogsmeade, I should go see Molly. I can also check the books for different location spells."

"Aye, Remus." Moody pursed his lips in a tight, thin line and then called, "Dora! Come, Lass."

While Tonks would have clearly preferred to be with Remus, she was not blind to her duty as an Auror. Being the professional she was, she joined Moody as they Apparated to Hogsmeade.

Remus took another drink from his cup and then left it in the kitchen sink. He walked to his chamber upstairs to dress for his visit to the Burrow.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric used for this chapter is from "Better Be Home Soon," performed by Crowded House on _Temple of Low Men_.


	7. The Search Begins

**CHAPTER 7:  
The Search Begins**

_Don't stand around like friends at a funeral, eyes to the ground.  
It could've been you. Why do you weep?  
_~Neil Finn

When he came down from his room, Remus chose to call the Weasleys from the fireplace in the kitchen. He threw a fistful of powder into the Floo, and after contacting the Burrow he shouted, "Molly! Arthur! Are you there?"

He couldn't see any one immediately, so he shouted again. Finally, Molly came into view, and her face was red and puffy from copious amounts of tears.

"Arthur's at the Ministry trying to find out anything he can," she said automatically.

"How are you doing?" he asked sincerely, though he knew the question sounded inane.

At first Molly didn't answer. "It's the clock, Remus!" she eventually said to him cryptically as she wrung her hands.

Not already knowing about the special Weasley clock, he asked, "What clock?"

"Our clock! It doesn't show me where she is. It shows absolutely nothing, not even that she's somewhere in danger!" Molly sobbed miserably after getting out those difficult words.

"Molly, may I come over?" he asked softly in a comforting voice.

She sniffled and then simply nodded. After seeing Molly's assent, Remus used another handful of Floo powder and went to the Burrow to be with her in person.

"Do you want some tea?" she asked in a rush as Remus was dusting the soot off his robes and shoes.

In truth, he didn't want any, but he agreed as he knew it would be of more comfort to Molly than to himself. She immediately began preparing it.

After a long silence in the house, Remus finally spoke. "Moody and Tonks have gone to Hogsmeade to gather information there."

"That's good," she said without conviction.

"I will consult location spells and maps. I have a talent with maps," he smiled softly.

"Do you?" she asked distractedly, trying to hold her composure. By this time the tea was done, and she motioned for them to sit.

Remus was respectfully quiet, trying to somehow be of comfort to Molly. She made a few comments here and there, but was constrained by her grief. Most of the tea drinking was done in near perfect silence.

The time ticked away in the room, and Remus watched the Weasley clock so accurately displaying the locations of the other members of the family. All others were safe in known locations, but not Ginny, whose lack of presence on the clock was singularly conspicuous. The clock's notice of "Mortal Peril" wasn't even indicated, which should have been a small comfort to her parents. In every other way, it was as if the girl had simply disappeared or ceased to exist.

"Do you have any personal items of hers that you can give me? It will help for some location spells," he requested after their tea had gotten cold.

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Let's go to her room. I'll find something."

Together they walked up the winding stairs to the small room that was Ginny's. Spying a small vanity mirror on the bedside table, Molly grasped it and said, "Take this."

"It's a lovely mirror," Remus commented.

Indeed, it was. The Weasleys were not rich, and none of them seemed particularly vain. This mirror had golden scrollwork on the edges and a blue-green fairy on the back. It was delicate and very girlish.

"We got it for her after the last time," she said to him enigmatically.

When he raised his eyebrow in inquiry, she further explained, "After Ginny came back from the Chamber of Secrets."

No one talked anymore of the time that the shade of Tom Riddle had taken Ginny and tried to kill her. He suspected it took great effort just then for Molly to speak openly about it.

Remus wrapped the mirror in the cloth that was also on Ginny's bedside table and put it in his pocket for safe keeping.

"Let's go," he suggested and gently pulled at her arm. "Staying here won't help us find her, and it will only make you feel the worse for her absence."

Molly nodded and let him guide her down the stairs to the main floor of her home. Once there, she said to him, "You know, Remus, you have always been kind to me and my family. You are a good man. Thank you for helping us."

After her statement, she burst into new tears, letting her pain flow.

"I'm sorry, Molly. You know I'll try my best to find her," he consoled the weeping Mrs. Weasley.

She protested the profound sense of loss. "That's my only daughter! You have to save her."

Something in the words about saving her reminded Remus of something he had heard earlier, but he didn't remember exactly what it was.

"I will do my absolute best," he said as he took her hand in assurance.

Molly laughed hollowly and questioned him, "Do you know what yesterday was?"

"Yes, I do," Remus answered, thinking again of the deaths of James and Lily sixteen years ago.

"That's right. It was my baby's birthday," Molly said with hardness and irony. "Happy sixteenth birthday, Ginny."

Ginny's birthday! If she was born on Halloween, that could only mean one thing. Remus quickly schooled his features to show nothing, but the number of years matched too closely for him not to ask his next question.

"You said she's sixteen now?"

Molly nodded and daubed her eyes with her handkerchief. "We waited so long for a girl, and we finally got one. It was a difficult birth. I went into labor soon after midnight and was in pains for almost twenty-four hours."

She paused, and he watched with interest. "You would think by the time I had her it would have been easy, but it wasn't. She's a fighter, though."

"When was she actually born?" he asked to satisfy his raging curiosity.

"Ginny was born at 11:23 at night," Molly answered.

So she was born two hours after Lily was murdered. He wasn't sure why he was compelled to know the time of Ginny's birth, but it seemed important. After satisfying his curiosity, Remus prepared to depart.

"You will know the instant I learn something," he promised Molly before leaving.

###

While Lupin was busy with Molly Weasley, Alastor Moody and Nymphadora Tonks were busy with their own part of the mission. The pair of Aurors Apparated to the edge of Hogsmeade and walked in slowly, surveying every detail that they could see. They had agreed to go to the edge of the village instead of directly to a Floo in case there were other pieces of information to be found in the terrain.

Moody gruffly warned Tonks before they could get started, "Dora, lass, let me walk ahead. I'd rather not have you trample on any clues."

She might have been annoyed at him because of the implications of his comment, but in the seriousness of the situation, she refrained from argument. It seemed a wise choice as her partner almost immediately took notice of something she hoped could be important.

Moody kneeled closer to the ground to examine the footprints in the dirt. The action reminded Tonks of the stories of the Indian trackers in the American west. Perhaps his eye could sort out details of the footprints and which ones belonged to whom. It might be possible because she wasn't rightly sure what the extent of his skill with the eye entailed. When his assessment of the footprints was over, he got up and started walking forward.

"Have you spoken with the boy yet?" asked Moody without indicating what he thought he found in the dust.

"Not yet," Tonks replied softly. When he pointedly said nothing, she quickly replied, "I'll Floo him right away."

Moody nodded in approval of her bending to his subtle manipulation. "A wise idea."

The first place they stopped was the Three Broomsticks because it was a favorite place for the students and a center for gossip. Madam Rosmerta looked up from the bar when they entered, and the witch immediately knew the purpose of their visit. Speculation about Ginny's disappearance had had been buzzing all over the small Wizarding community since they realized she was gone.

Even knowing the true reason for their visit, the witch grimaced at the sight of Alastor Moody. Madam Rosmerta had never grown to like Moody. It was an after-effect of the time Barty Crouch, Jr., had been impersonating him at Hogwarts. With a reasonable bit of assurance after the fact, she was told that the real Moody would not have acted all that much differently in regards to his eating and drinking habits. Those assurances were not a comfort to her because as a business owner, she preferred to have a spending customer rather than one who drank from his own hip flask while at her establishment.

"Good afternoon, Rosmerta!" Tonks said with a wide smile, trying to create an air of friendliness.

The older witch inclined her head graciously. "Would you be having anything to drink while you're here?"

Before Moody could have the chance to scoff, Tonks redirected the woman. "You know we can't drink anything inappropriate while on official business, but a cup of tea would be lovely. Thank you."

Quickly she placed a steaming cup in front of the Metamorphmagus. Then she asked Moody, "And you?"

He was about to refuse, but Tonks sent him furious looks of warning. She mouthed, "Take it! Take it!"

With a sigh, the Auror said, "Tea." After another sharp look from Tonks he grudgingly though politely amended, "Please. Thank you."

That satisfied Madam Rosmerta, who served them with a much happier demeanor than she had when they walked into her pub.

After finishing her cup, Tonks confided, "I'm sure you know why we are here."

Rosmerta nodded. "I just saw her yesterday. She was here with her friends. It's so hard to believe she was taken."

"Yes, well," Tonks said, looking away from her, "we need your help. Please let me use your Floo to contact Hogwarts. In our rush to get here, I forgot to call them."

Moody noticed that Tonks had the appropriate embarrassed blush as she spoke. He wasn't sure if it was a real blush or the girl perfecting her morphing skills on a deeper level. Either way, it gained Rosmerta's favor, and he approved.

"Of course! It's no trouble at all," she answered while patting the witch's hand.

"Oh, thank you!" Tonks said back to her, looking truly thankful. "While I am doing that, would you _please_ let Moody ask a few questions? I've promised to make him behave," she said conspiratorially.

The other witch laughed. "That's not possible!"

"I _think_ it is. Thank you for letting me use your Floo," she repeated

She was waived off by the bar mistress who addressed Moody. "So what are your questions then?"

Before she left the room, Tonks touched Moody's shoulder. "Be nice," she admonished meaningfully.

With both his eyes he narrowed an indignant look at her and then stepped away to take statements from Rosmerta and the customers in the pub.

###

Tonks walked into the private room behind the bar to use the Floo. She thought it best to talk to one of the students directly in hopes of getting a clear answer to her questions from people who were actually with Ginny instead of asking professors who weren't. Her best bet was Harry, as Moody had reminded her.

When Tonks called Gryffindor tower in hopes of talking with him, however, he was nowhere to be found. Instead, the call was answered by a very shaken Hermione Granger.

"How are you, Hermione?" Tonks asked matter-of-factly.

The girl laughed nervously. "As good as can be expected." After a short pause, she admitted, "I'm not well at all."

Tonks nodded solemnly. "Is Harry there?"

"No!" Hermione shrieked with a rising pitch in her voice.

Immediately alarmed, Tonks asked, "Where is he? What happened?"

"He's with the Headmaster," Hermione said, looking to her side and sighing. "He's been fighting with almost all of Slytherin house. He accused Malfoy of having his father kidnap Ginny. I think Harry broke his nose!"

"I'm sorry," Tonks said, though she didn't indicate if she was sorry for Draco's nose or Harry's anger. As gently as she could, she tried to make Hermione focus. "We want to find Ginny as soon as possible, but to do that you have to tell me what you know."

"I don't know anything! No one does," she confided with wide eyes.

"Think, Hermione!" she encouraged.

"It could be Death Eaters. I read about them in the _Daily Prophet_, and that seems to be more reliable this time."

"If it's not, and she was taken by someone else, we will live to regret it, but Ginny may not," Tonks said. Then to herself at such a morbid comment, she mumbled, "I've been with Lupin too long."

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Tonks started again. "Tell me what you did yesterday, everything to the minutest detail. You don't know what can help us."

Hermione took a deep breath and began to recount the itinerary of everything that happened. She included the trip down to the village with the other students, the separation from the boys to go to the dress shop, and then meeting them again in the Three Broomsticks. She lastly mentioned the time they left the pub and that right before they were completely gone Ginny separated from Harry to go get a surprise of some sort.

"Do you know what she could have been after?" Tonks probed.

Shaking her head, Hermione said, "No. We got everything we needed at Madam Stone's shop, so I couldn't think she'd go back there."

"I'll check there anyway. You never know if she forgot something and went back to find it," the Auror stated softly.

She looked at Hermione more closely after getting the basic interview over, and she could see the great worry that surrounded her. "What is it?" Tonks asked. Maybe talking would help the girl.

"This is… this is different. It's much worse than facing a mountain troll when I was a first year." Hermione swiped at her eyes. Then she spoke so softly Tonks almost didn't hear her. "It's almost worse than Ginny being lost in the Chamber."

Tonks only knew vague rumors of Ginny having been in the Chamber of Secrets. What the Weasleys, or specifically Molly, didn't want to acknowledge, they pretended had simply never happened.

Hermione continued to talk, trying to give a voice to the hurt she was feeling. "Harry and Ron went and got her. Just like that! But now… they can't. Harry's looking for answers, but we don't have any."

"It can't be easy on Harry, not after losing Sirius," Tonks said understandingly. "We will do our best to find her. You have to believe that."

"I do," Hermione said simply with tears running down her face.

Tonks said her goodbyes to the young witch and left Madam Rosmerta's room to relate to Moody what she had learned during the call.

###

Tonks found Alastor in the corner of the pub speaking with a small wizard. She waited until he finished instead of interrupting him.

"Did you learn anything useful from Potter?" he asked gruffly.

"No. He wasn't there, but I did speak to Hermione Granger. We should go to Stone's Sartorial Sensations," she advised.

Moody nodded to her, and they departed from Madam Rosmerta's pub.

"She and Hermione were dress shopping here yesterday. I know how teenage girls behave, and I think she might have gone to get back for something," she clarified.

"Of course you know. You're still a teenager," he deadpanned as he walked ahead of her in his uneven stride.

"Moody! Did _you_ just make a joke?" she blinked in surprise.

"Of course not," he denied and changed the subject. "I have some other leads after that."

"Good," she said hopefully.

Madam Stone's dress shop was less busy on Saturday than the previous Friday when it was full of students. While there were a few customers, they were subdued adults instead of noisy students getting ready for a dance.

Tonks was momentarily distracted by the frilly garments. They were pretty things she'd not likely have an occasion to wear. She just didn't do girly things. While she was looking, though, it was Moody who spoke to the owner.

"Yes, she stopped by yesterday afternoon when the students were leaving," Stone conferred.

The pink-haired Auror sharply inhaled at the new information. This was the missing piece after she'd left her friends.

"What time would that have been?" Moody asked methodically.

When the witch answered, he followed up with the question, "Was she with anyone? Did you see which way she went?"

"The dear left right away, headed back to Hogwarts, no doubt. She'd bought some hair combs for a friend of hers," she supplied.

"Combs?" Tonks questioned. "What kind?"

When the other woman gave the description, Tonks whispered to Moody. "Do you think you and your magical eye would recognize that?" He nodded slightly in confirmation.

They thanked the shop owner for her information and then left to find the trail that Ginny might have taken. They determined that it was the last known place that Ginny had been seen, and logically, after buying her trinkets she would have headed back to the school. From all accounts the girl had been planning on attending the dance. It was the moments after this where her abductors would have made their move.

"If I were Ginny walking back to Hogwarts, where would have I gone from here?" Tonks pondered out loud.

"The most direct way possible," Moody said as he looked at the streets around them and pointed at her potential path.

Tonks looked at the streets that led into the worst part of the village. "Ginny, how could you have been so stupid?"

###

The Auror team worked hard to make sure all ground was covered for any signs of the missing Ginny. It included minutia like possible footprints that might have been hers from the previous day to scraps of clothing that caught on nails. The work was exhausting and not necessarily fruitful until Moody held up his hand to pause Tonks on her work.

Alastor's eye turned wildly in his head. He said in a dangerously low voice, "I found something."

"What is it?" Tonks asked in a whispered voice.

"Behind that building. I think I found a comb," he said before both of his blue eyes focused on her.

The pair rounded the corner to find a perfectly formed comb in an alley between buildings and a broken one near it.

Tonks pulled at his arm. "Look there!" Her gesture pointed at a tavern and inn. It was definitely not the same caliber as the Three Broomsticks. It could have even made the Hogshead Inn look innocent by comparison.

"Logical," Moody appraised. "Good."

They went inside the establishment to ask yet another group of people if they knew the whereabouts of the youngest Weasley. By that time, Tonks was feeling a bit touchy, and so was her companion.

He held up a wizard photograph of Ginny to the bartender and customers inside. "Have you seen the girl? She looks like this."

None of the customers had any information to offer, and it wasn't the place where people often spoke freely. When the bartender refused comment, Tonks intruded.

"Alastor, don't bludgeon those people. You're as clumsy with your people skills as I am clumsy with everything else." Not liking to be corrected however rhetorically by Tonks, Moody complained alone to himself.

"I am sure you would help us if there was any way possible," she stated and flashed something metallic on the table before him. "Try to remember! The girl looks like this," Tonks said as she morphed herself into the very visage of Ginny Weasley.

The man pocketed the coin that Tonks had given to him and said, "No, I haven't seen her."

The sneak-o-scope that Moody had did not sound in alarm, so while the man certainly could have been hiding something, it wasn't anything in relation to Ginny.

"Thank you," Tonks said as she reverted back to her more common appearance of short pink spiky hair.

She walked out of the inn and tried to hide the disappointment on her face from Moody who came behind her.

"What next, Alastor?" she asked tiredly.

For many seconds there was silence as he didn't answer. "Let's return to headquarters and see if Lupin has learned anything."

She sighed before signaling her acceptance of his idea. As one, they Apparated away from the wizard village.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric used in this chapter is from "Never Be The Same," performed by Crowded House on _Temple of Low Men_.


	8. Reflections of Light and Dark

**CHAPTER 8:  
Reflections of Light and Dark**

_History never repeats  
I tell myself before I go to sleep.  
And there's a light shining in the dark  
Leading me on towards a change of heart.  
_~Neil Finn

Ginny in shackles was led from the hovel where she'd been thrown to sleep back into Jonathan's playroom by Theo and another man named Stewart. Most normal people would have called the playroom a torture chamber, but Moss did not think of it in that light at all. He was the master of experiments in his room, so for him it did very much feel like play.

"Oh, you made it! So good of you to join me," he said with a glistening smile on his face.

Ginny looked at him from under furrowed brows. _You say that as if I've had an invitation!_ she thought. In the morning she'd been re-cursed with Silencio to take away her physical voice to fight and resist. Mentally she rebelled against him with every fiber of her being.

"I hope you'll like what I've done with the place," he said as he continued to smile.

If he were Gilderoy Lockhart she would have slapped the golden ringlets off his foolish head. As it was, only his horrid smile was like Lockhart.

"Don't be shy," he said as she didn't outwardly respond. "Let me show you around to all the amenities."

He walked her from implement to implement in his own fine torture museum. He had a glib explanation as they arrived at each piece.

"...And this one was used to stretch people to make them taller. We did have a lot of short people in the middle ages, you know. There were the few of us who were helping evolution along," he said as they walked passed the rack.

He was clearly in his element and having quite the good time hearing his own voice explaining everything. Ginny tried her best to ignore his prattling and look for any weaknesses in her surroundings. Unfortunately, Jonathan's voice came trailing back into her consciousness.

"No one takes pleasure in a job well done anymore! It's such a shame." He had an appropriately pitying look on his face as he spoke.

"I still believe the old ways are good ways. Look at all of this," his hand waved in presentation before the gathered items in the chamber. "Some of these ideas were pure brilliance, and they just shouldn't be forgotten."

Moss lovingly touched each of the torture implements, and sighed with satisfaction.

"So, my dearest Red, you are probably wondering which of these toys we are going to use today. And the answer is... none of them!" Jonathan continued in his ebullient attitude.

"We have a special surprise for you. But first, up on this table. You remember this table, I'm sure," he said as he made sure she was chained face down on the table.

Quickly after Ginny was secured on the table, Stewart came in to the chamber with several long fire pokers resting against his shoulder in a similar way to that of a Muggle solder marching with a rifle. Frank and Theo brought in several cords of wood and placed it before the fire.

"Wands at ready, men!" Moss commanded.

Stewart put the pokers down in the fire and drew his wand with the other two men. Together the group incanted, _"Incendio!"_ to bring the heat of the flames ever hotter and the metal to a burning glow.

Ginny looked around their bodies and watched in horrible fascination as she saw the metal heat to molten temperature. The once solid rods of metal began to bend softly, entrancing her. It was simultaneously beautiful and dangerous. The rising temperature and molten metal cast long orange shadows in the already dark room.

Each of Jonathan's men withdrew a poker from the fire and then encircled Ginny at her restrained position on the table. Jonathan then put his head softly beside hers and spoke sweetly.

"I didn't say I wouldn't hurt you, Red. I only said you wouldn't have any physical scars. Do be a dear and let out a scream every once in a while. It lets me know I am doing the job correctly." Moss sounded almost grandmotherly to her.

"Uh, boss..." Frank muttered at his shoulder.

"Yes?" he asked with an annoyed sigh.

"She _can't_ scream. You've cursed her with Silencio. Remember?"

"Oh, that's right." Jonathan momentarily gnawed on the inside of his cheek. "Well, look afraid then," he said with a mischievous wink. "No matter what, now I get to see how good the non-scarification charm really is."

###

_Spin!_ he willed.

It remained stationary, not listening to his internal magic command. The mirror was useless in his hand.

_Spin_, he thought again. Nothing happened, and the werewolf sighed.

He took the cloth that had accompanied the mirror and rubbed it all over. The metal took on a luster that winked enticingly back at him. His mouth tipped at the corners because he knew he would bend the object to his will.

Breathing deeply and centering himself, Remus lifted his open left hand up to shoulder height with Ginny's mirror resting on his palm.

"_Spiegel, Spiegel in meiner Hand, wo ist die Schönste im das Land?" _Lupin said with an Albus-like twinkle in his eye. Then in English, he commanded, "Spin!"

Finally, the mirror started to respond to his magic. From its flat, resting position it stood up to erect attention. Coaxing it gently, Remus slid his hand from underneath it until it was supported by the tip of his index finger. He then raised up his arm so the intersection of his finger and the bottom of the mirror handle was just above his line of vision. Pursing his lips together, he gently but steadily blew out a jet of air.

The mirror began to spin.

He laughed with triumph as he smiled up to the mirror spinning above his outstretched finger. When the white light started to spread from it, the man's face took on a younger, more serene appearance. In the darkened library at the Order Headquarters, the spell built with the strength of one of the fiercest Patronus charms. Eventually the pristine white light from the mirror became the only light within the room because Remus used his wand to extinguish the orange fires from the fireplace and the lamps.

Not yet daring to remove his hand from underneath the levitating and spinning mirror, he continued to set the rest of his charms in motion with the wand that was held in his other hand. A well-executed swish and flick brought maps gliding from the shelves of the library. Another turn of his wrist brought the desired texts around him. He had topographical maps, Muggle street maps, maps of known magical wards, and several other varieties of map. He also had gathered around him several books with various location and tracking spells. With his wand, Remus made objects dance around the room, floating in an aerial ballet only he conducted.

Before speaking with Molly, Remus hadn't thought of his map-making talent in quite some time. Of course he had a gift with maps; otherwise he and the rest of the Marauders would never have completed their map of Hogwarts! What had once been a teenage fancy for him was going to be unusually useful, or so he certainly hoped.

Again giving words in German, Remus quietly commanded, _"Zeigen Sie mir, wo das Mädchen des roten Haares und der braunen Augen ist."_

The mirror obeyed casting its light in the room, completely surrounding Remus. The brilliant white light began to change as drawings of the maps began to rise like phantoms from the pages of the books. Lupin took control of the ephemeral images and lined them around himself in the room, guiding them into place with a point of his wand.

He took his hand out from underneath the spinning mirror as he looked at the scenes before him. "Show me," he said out loud. The scenes started to change, and he watched various living pages of light come into view before him.

Seeing several scenes as unsatisfactory, Lupin began to quickly discard several of his options. He needed to move faster, he realized.

"You know her. You _belong_ to her," he said to the inanimate object helping him discern Ginny's whereabouts. "Show me!"

A point of bright red light like a delicate jeweled drop of blood appeared to come out of the mirror glass slowly. It hovered hesitantly and then flashed past Lupin's eyes into the stark white light of the projected map images.

All information around him became as an ocean, and he was drowning in possibilities of where Ginny could be. The pages of the books turned quickly by unseen hands as the red drop swam in and out of the pictures. Remus felt himself pulled along with it as if he were taking a portkey away to the destination where she might actually be.

The red light guided him past Muggle towns and cities, beyond Magical wards. It moved with a dizzying speed, but Remus did not dare blink lest he miss some detail of the journey. The light took him over plains to a forest and then to an old and decrepit castle.

There, the light entered. Lupin tried to take in everything around it, but the trip of the light was by now moving too fast, winding in the corridors until it reached a room of blazing red, yellow and orange. Remus reflexively put his arm over his face to shield against heat he could imagine but did not feel.

Then he saw them. There were no faces on the men, only their hands and rods of molten metal they held that radiated light from having been stoked in the fire. The group of four moved closer to a table, and then Remus saw her.

It was the red that was unique among shades of red. The long hair that the girl had worn as a lion's mane draped down her back, and nothing else but the freckles in her skin covered her. She was face down on top of the table and her eyes were out of view. Remus knew if he saw them that they'd be brown.

A hand reached out gently across her neck and the hair from over her back to reveal the naked flesh beneath it. As one man got closer to her, Remus knew with absolute horror what was about to happen. "NO!" he shouted, though he could not be heard.

The small body on the table jumped as she was pierced in her side, and she slumped when the rod was withdrawn. Another man came closer to stick the burning rod into a different place. The third and fourth men had their individual turns, giving her almost enough pause to believe the torture was over.

After the last blow, Ginny turned her head so that Remus could finally see her face from the vantage he had of the red guiding light. The brown eyes were hers, but they had no life in them.

"I'll save you," he promised, though she could not hear him. "Please endure," he said as he reached his hand forward to touch the image of the girl.

As impossible as it might have been, he swore for a moment that she had a flicker of recognition in her eyes. That was quickly wiped away when as one the men descended upon Ginny and struck her with their irons.

Suddenly, Remus was forced away from his vision of Ginny convulsing under the attack. Lupin's awareness was pulled to Grimmauld Place with such violence that his body fell backwards to the floor. It knocked the breath out of him, though one thought persisted. He'd found Ginny Weasley!

At that moment, the mirror fell, crashing to the floor and bringing the room into total darkness.

###

**Hogwarts, Marauders' 3rd Year**

While many of the most memorable moments in his school history had begun at the instigation of James or Sirius, Remus was by no means a completely humorless do-gooder. He was just more proficient at appearing innocent than others, a quality his friends often didn't possess. The beginnings of the Marauders' Map had started with him, and, like many of the other great adventures they had together, it had a humble start.

Remus had been sitting in the library at Hogwarts not doing his homework. He was an intelligent boy, and he was especially thankful for it on those nights when he had to be away due to the full moon because it made making up his work so much easier. This particular time, though, he just didn't feel like doing his work. There wasn't anything other to say about it because he _wasn't _going to do it.

Instead he was doodling on his parchment, writing the different paths and hallways of Hogwarts. He'd thought of it on his trek to the library that evening and at different times previously while going to and from Gryffindor tower. He already knew at least one secret passage out of the castle, so he was already more knowledgeable about the layout of the school than most of his classmates in any given year.

James Potter entered the library while Remus was sitting there drawing, and he joined his friend at the table once he saw him.

"That sure was a huge amount of homework for History of Magic. How far have you gotten?" Potter questioned.

"I haven't," Remus said dismissively as he continued to draw on his paper.

"What?" James said teasingly. "Wonder boy isn't doing his work? You've been too long with me and Sirius."

Remus smiled up softly from his parchment. "Maybe."

"Well, what is it that you are doing, Moony?" James said, using the nickname Sirius had given him after they'd learned he was a werewolf.

"Just drawing a map of Hogwarts," he said as he sketched a portion of the north tower.

James moved his chair closer to Remus and looked closer at the map. "Wow," he said, clearly impressed. "That's really good! I haven't even seen a map that good in _Hogwarts, A History_."

Remus snorted at his friend. "You mean you've actually read that?"

James rolled his eyes and complained. "I told you! History of Magic homework."

"Right," Remus said as he continued his drawing.

James looked on for a while, and Lupin knew the moment the other boy had an idea. It was some instinct born from their friendship. Remus had joked that he smelled smoke because the gears in the other boy's brain were turning.

"How do you know about those passages?" Potter asked while pointing to a few unofficial exits that Remus had drawn.

"I have to use them when…" he said with a cough, quickly looking around the library. "When… you know."

"Ah-ha…" James said, still thinking about the parchment Remus was making. "So you go through a secret passage out of the castle to get to the Shrieking Shack, right?" Potter, with a light in his eyes, further probed his friend

"Yes, that's right," Remus said warily.

"And no one but you knows about it?" his friend questioned with an almost innocent look.

"Yes. Well, no. Dumbledore knows. What are you thinking, James?" Remus asked with a warning tone.

James put his hands to his lips in the classic look of contemplation. "I wonder how many more secret passageways there are in the castle."

"Tons, I'm sure, but only one that I need to know about to get out on the night of a full moon," Lupin said with his practical side momentarily inhibiting his fun-loving side.

"Are you sure about that? There might be more ways out of the castle, or what would happen if that passage were suddenly blocked? We need to investigate these things." James paused and added for extra sincerity, "It's for your safety, after all."

"Sure it is," Remus finally said sarcastically. "I'm sure you don't have any ulterior motives whatsoever."

"Me? How could you even think such a thing about one of your best friends?" James wore a look of hurt.

"It might be because I know you," Remus answered with a laugh.

Potter dropped his charade. "So what if you do! Can't you imagine the look on Filch's face if we got out of the castle after hours?"

"James! I am ashamed for you," Moony scolded.

"What?" the dark-haired boy questioned with a distasteful look.

"If? _If? _ What's this 'if' you speak of?" Remus said with a dramatic face as if he smelled something rotten. "You mean you have doubt it can be done?"

"Now that's the spirit!" James said enthusiastically. "So, what's the plan?"

"Can you draw?" Remus asked simply.

James shrugged, "Quidditch plays, but not this."

"Well, you're about to learn," Lupin said as he shoved parchments in front of him.

His black haired friend looked down and nodded. "Right, and Sirius and Peter can help. The more we spread out, the more we'll find."

"It should be more than just a map. Any buffoon with parchment and ink can make one of those," Remus said as he humorously assessed himself and what he'd just been doing.

"Absolutely," James agreed with an excited light in his eyes, "but how to make it special is the trick, isn't it?"

Before Remus and James could really decide what special features the new map would have, the library became filled up with more students. Seeing a particularly nosey group of Slytherins walking by their table, Lupin quickly charmed his idle map drawings to take on the appearance of homework. No one who was not looking too closely would have been any wiser to the fact that he made it appear the same as the assignment that James had completed.

One particular Slytherin moving at the back of the group stayed behind to accost the two Gryffindor friends.

"There has got to be something wrong here," Severus Snape said in exaggerated disbelief.

"The only thing wrong is you pointing your big nose in my direction, Snape," Potter taunted back at him.

Severus ignored him and looked at the books and parchments piled on the table. "What nefarious business are you up to now?"

"History of Magic," Remus said in partial truth.

Snape looked at the table again and shook his head slowly. "Homework? You, Potter? I didn't know you had it in you!" the Slytherin boy accused.

"Why, I would never do such a thing!" the Gryffindor denied as if actually doing his homework for once was a most heinous crime. "How dare you say that!"

"What's that?" Snape asked while pointing a long finger to the pile of books.

"Oh, that's just Remus trying to set a good example," James lied.

"Yes, that's me," Lupin deadpanned, "trying to show him how he should be doing his homework."

"But me?" James said to his Slytherin foe with a guileless look in eyes. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

"It's probably the only truthful thing you've ever said, Potter," he said while eyeing both boys.

When Severus decided to go away, and James stared daggers in his back the whole time until the other boy left. There was definitely no love lost between the Gryffindor and the Slytherin, but Remus took back his air of unconcern as he unveiled the map and began drawing again.

"You know, I really wish we could find a way to know who's moving about so we wouldn't get any more surprises from the likes of that one," James said in reference to Snape.

Remus said nothing, but smiled softly while tapping his fingers lightly on his quill in contemplation. He'd think of something.

###

Remus fumbled for his wand in the darkness. _"Incendio!"_ he incanted dryly. In response, the flames came to life in the hearth and in the lamps in the rest of the library.

With the normal levels of light in the room restored, Remus saw that the library was a mess on a level near that of a rampaging centaur or that of a Hogwarts first year. In the center of it all lay Ginny's mirror, reflective side faced down.

"Ginny," he whimpered, scrambling over to the mirror that had aided him in his search.

Where there had once been a graceful fairy, now there was a broken magical creature. _Like her_, dark thoughts started to intrude.

"No. No!" he said out loud angrily, reaching for the pieces. _Not like her_, he insisted.

The mirror had fragmented, but two large shards of the reflective glass remained. Remus grasped a piece in each hand in disbelief. Because the mirror had broken, the spell could not be duplicated. He _had_ to find her, and the urgency in that mission was never more important to him.

When he made to stand, a blinding hot pain stabbed him in the middle of his brain as if to crack his skull like a coconut. Lupin fell to his knees, clenching the broken glass tighter in his hands as he went.

He issued several short sharp breaths as he opened his eyes to stare down at his hands in shock. He'd cut himself severely and would need immediate medical attention. _Not as much as Ginny_, raced a thought by in impish perversion as he wondered in dismay why he'd felt such an intense attack of pain.

Again Lupin tried to stand and walk away from the room. He needed to find the others and tell them what he'd learned. He walked a few steps with blood dripping from his hands as he went. The werewolf had almost made it to the door when again he felt an overwhelming surge of pain. It was so intense that a howl was ripped out of his throat before he could bar its escape.

He'd again clutched the pieces of mirror tighter in his hands as the pain sensation swept through his body. He'd noted on some level that the webbing by his thumb was being severed and the muscle soon to follow.

_Let go of the glass, Remus,_ he told himself, but his body did not respond. Instead the site of attack moved to his abdomen. He'd put one hand there in sympathetic reaction, as if touching himself there he could stop it. His other hand slammed down on the floor so close to the door.

He wasn't sure why, but some sense in him felt that if he could leave the room the pain would stop. It was a blind hope, but it was all he had. He tried to inch forward, but his progress was slowed. He realized he'd been cut in more places than his hands. _I didn't do that_, one of his internal voices insisted.

He bellowed out in pain once more, but Remus knew he finally wasn't alone in the old Black House. He saw the three mismatched pairs of feet race into the room and gather around him, but he heard nothing above the thrumming of blood in his own ears. Finally, as he doubled over, bleeding all over himself and the floor, he heard the high-pitched and frightened shriek.

"REMUS LUPIN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric quote for this chapter is from "History Never Repeats" originally performed by Split Enz on the album _Corroboree_ (Australian release) or _Waiata _(New Zealand and the rest of the world).

The German phrases are basically "Mirror, mirror in my hand, where is the most beautiful in the land?" (Total borrow from the Snow White mythos) and "Show me where the maiden with the red hair and brown eyes is."


	9. The Madness of Werewolves

**CHAPTER 9:  
The Madness of Werewolves**

_Year after year, the demons always come.  
Failed to materialize. Way beyond my understanding  
Find my only comfort in your hands  
_~Neil Finn

"Have you seen Lupin?" a clarion voice rang out in the kitchen of the Order Headquarters. The person who owned the voice walked in wearing the conservative disguise of a medi-witch.

Moody and Shacklebolt gave each other looks before Kingsley offered an answer. "He's at Hogwarts getting his monthly potion from Severus."

"Good," Tonks said in a small voice while she rubbed her arms up and down as if she were chilled. "Maybe Snape can help him," she said as she changed into her more usual physical appearance.

"There might not be anything that can help that boy," Moody scoffed at her comment, causing Tonks to look sharply at him.

"Don't say that! Most people think _you_ are just a paranoid, doddering old fool, but they'd be wrong. Maybe there's something wrong with Lupin that we just don't know," she protested weakly, not sounding as if she was herself entirely convinced.

He looked at her with his small dark eye and said wryly, "Just because a man is paranoid does not mean that he doesn't have enemies. As for Lupin, you know he's been suffering since that spell went wrong."

The three had found him in a bloody mess crawling to the doorway of the library while the rest of the room was in chaos. It gave the impression of a whirlwind that had come and ransacked everything. Lupin was battered and barely able to make any sense of things at all. When he was later asked about what had happened, he insisted that he had found Ginny. As the Order members prodded him for details, he contradicted himself by saying he wouldn't be able to locate her again.

"And we're still no closer to finding Ginny," Tonks said with a sigh as she flopped down into a chair.

It had been a week without any news of the girl. She could be anything from dead to alive and held hostage specifically because her parents were members of the Order. Those possibilities didn't even include the more the obvious fact that Ginny was the girlfriend of Harry Potter, and any Death Eater worth his salt would be easily attempt to make psychological blows on the boy.

"I've got some of my contacts in the Department of Mysteries seeing what they can do," said Kingsley, but his rich voice didn't fill the room with hope.

"And Severus has been trying to ferret out information from his sources," Moody said thoughtfully.

"I know! I know! Everyone is trying to find her," Tonks said as she ran her hand in agitation through her spiky hair. "It's just…"

After her pause, Moody prompted her. "Say it, girl."

The kitchen was deathly quiet as she admitted, "The only one who said he has come anywhere near finding her is Lupin, and I don't know if I trust him."

A look passed over her head between the two men. Tonks had been trying to court Remus for such a long time that this confession of hers was a mild surprise.

"Why do you say that?" Kingsley urged gently as he sat by Tonks.

She shook her head in denial, trying not to look at her compatriots. "I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"But you do worry about him," Moody declared.

"Yes," she said as she closed her eyes. "I fear he's developed a savior complex after Sirius fell through the veil."

There was the stark truth that had been going through her mind, and the possibility had not eluded Alastor or Kingsley.

"It's more than that, though. I really thought he was trying to kill himself," Tonks glumly said as she looked at her fingers. "After all we'd done, and the things he's suffered… Because he thought he found her and didn't…"

Her doubts filled the room like a fog of evil. Tonks tried to make them go away by concluding, "There's only so much a man can take."

Alastor spoke as the gruff voice of reason, "Ritual suicide doesn't strike me as a very Lupin thing to do."

"But madness does," Shacklebolt interjected quietly before he took a drink of hot tea.

After his statement, the sound of a pin dropping could have been heard in the kitchen of the Order Headquarters.

They'd all been watching Lupin very closely since he'd been discovered him on the floor of the library. His erratic behavior had left them unsure of his grasp on reality, and other seeds of doubt had been planted long before the situation of the past week. Though Remus was their friend and esteemed to be a rational and balanced man almost any day out of the month, the fact remained that he was a werewolf. Dolores Umbridge had only been one of many people to try to erode public and private confidence in werewolves. When it had been later revealed that he had also been Sirius Black's lover, it further compounded the assertions of a narrow-minded few that Lupin's existence and very character were prime examples of social deviancy.

Shacklebolt raised his eyebrows as he sipped his tea and then put the cup down on the saucer. "We don't know many werewolves who've managed to live a long or, perhaps more importantly right now, sane life."

"Well, none of those werewolves have been our friends!" Tonks protested defensively.

He leveled a look at the young Auror. "Are you telling me that his involvement with Sirius is the _only_ reason you're worried about him?"

"No," she finally admitted and dropped her head in shame.

Moody, who had been silent during the exchange, clapped her shoulder as he took her teacup from her. She covered his hand with her own as she fought against misted eyes.

Without speaking any more on the issue, the three Aurors put away their tea things and left the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place.

###

In a different part of the Wizarding world, the selfsame deviant werewolf was making his way through the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He didn't watch the students around him but drifted automatically. He knew the way by heart.

When he got to the portrait hole, the woman in the picture smiled. "It's been years since I've seen the likes of you! You're looking older," she said, indicating the grey in his hair.

Remus stood with a boyish posture and smiled widely at her. "And you still look as pretty as a picture."

The Fat Lady laughed loudly at his joke, and the few students around them wondered what had caused it.

After her laughter had subsided, Lupin got to the reason he was standing outside the portrait hole. "I came to speak to Harry. Is he inside?"

"Yes, dear. I don't think he's left all day, not even for meals or Quidditch practice," the Fat Lady answered.

He nodded at the information, not being all that surprised for Harry's reaction. Upon seeing someone standing near him and clearly wanting to go inside, Remus studied him intently, trying to remember if he was a student during the year he had been teaching. The boy didn't act like he knew him, either, so he got the boy's attention.

"You. What's your name?" he quizzed.

"Kyle Rothery, sir," the blond boy replied.

"Go tell Harry Potter that Remus Lupin wants to talk to him."

The boy fidgeted. "Is this about Ginny Weasley?"

Remus narrowed his eyes at the fourth year boy. "And how do you know them?"

The question was idiotic, he realized, since he was in the same house as the other two. It was confirmed when Kyle answered that he was on the Quidditch team with both Harry and Ginny.

"Just please, go bring him out. Do whatever you need to do," the man said.

"Yes, sir!" he said with a lop-sided grin. Remus recognized it as the universal symbol of mischief in the making, but he didn't care if it brought Harry to him.

Lupin sat down in front of the portrait hole making idle chat with the Fat Lady. She was easy to charm, and it had been a long time since he had spoken so lightly with anyone or anything. At least that skill of his had not atrophied. When he was beginning to think the muscles in his legs were what had actually started to atrophy, Harry finally made his appearance.

"Hello," he said as he stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Being Saturday, he didn't have on his normal class robes, and his posture alone betrayed details about his sense of unease.

"Come take a walk with me, Harry, so we can talk," Remus said.

"Where are we going?" he asked cautiously.

"The dungeon," Remus answered with a significant look. "I came for a certain potion."

Harry nodded, and the two walked in step from Gryffindor Tower down to the Potions classroom. Though the older man had mentioned talking, few words were said in the halls in the presence of other people.

Potter looked to the tall form of Remus beside him and glanced down at the man's hands. The palms were wrapped in grey bandages.

"What did you do to your hands?" he asked curiously. Somehow he thought Sirius wouldn't like seeing him like that.

Lupin immediately put his hands in the pockets of his robes. "It's winter, Harry," he stated.

Harry thought of what he'd seen. They had looked like medical bandages to him, but perhaps Remus was too poor to afford a proper pair of gloves. He didn't want to offend the man's pride by offering to buy him new ones, though he could have easily afforded it. Instead, he chose to ignore what he'd noticed.

Outside the Potions classroom, there was absolutely no one around. There Remus decided to talk to Harry.

"How are you?" he said with a direct gaze.

Deciding not to answer the question, Harry posed one of his own. "Have you found Ginny?"

Remus clenched his hand before forcing himself to relax. "Not yet, but don't give up hope. We are looking."

Harry opened and closed his mouth several times and gave Remus the fleeting impression that he wanted to run away. Dropping his voice and walking closer to the werewolf, he said, "People die, Remus. When they're gone, we don't always get them back."

He put a hand to the boy's shoulder and said simply, "I know." He struggled with the urge to hug him as a father or uncle would, but the moment passed as Pansy Parkinson made her way past them to the Potions classroom.

"Potter," she taunted with a laugh as she looked from Harry to Lupin. "Since when are you into bestiality? With your girlfriend gone, did you have to find someone else?"

Remus sighed and threw back his head. "Miss Parkinson," he said through clenched teeth, "as pleasant as always, I see."

She flipped her hair over her shoulder with unconcern and continued on into the classroom. "Professor Snape! I brought you the package you've been wanting."

The girl seemed particularly pleased with herself, but Professor Snape gestured with a long finger for her to put whatever it was on his desk. She acted as if she wanted to talk to him, but changed her mind when it was clear that neither Potter nor the werewolf former professor were going away.

When she left, Harry whispered to Lupin out of the side of his mouth, "What was that about?"

Lupin bent his head down and said, "It's best not to meddle in the affairs of Slytherins."

The two advanced into the room as Snape spoke without looking up from his cauldron "Lupin and Potter, together just like old times. I'm so happy I could vomit."

"Oh, Severus, surely you jest!" Remus retorted. "You don't care about either one of us enough to expend that kind of energy."

The Potions Master finally lifted his eyes from the cauldron where he had been working to stare into the eyes of one of his former rivals. Not looking away from him, he reached for a goblet and ladled the steaming potion into it.

"Thank you," the werewolf said as he reached for his dose of Wolfsbane Potion. When his hand contacted the goblet, he let out a whelp of pain.

Snape gave a rather satisfied smile as he asked, "Something wrong?"

"It's nothing of your concern," Remus said as he shook out his hand.

"I'm sure it's not," Snape replied calmly, "but on occasion I do talk to Order members."

Lupin flicked his eyes to look at him because he hadn't missed the implication. In front of Harry he said, "Good for you."

Harry was used to the animosity between the two men. It was only a mild version of the same thing he had seen at Grimmauld Place when Sirius was still alive. The fleeting memory of Sirius being alive prompted Harry to ask something he normally wouldn't.

"Have you heard anything? In your meetings…" He fidgeted as he asked the question.

Remus cocked his head to the side, giving the Potions Master an especially alert look. "Yes, Severus. I'd be interested to learn if you heard anything as well."

"Hold your tongue, boy!" Snape said, finally giving his full attention to Harry. "You have to be extremely careful because you never know who's listening. You have no gift of subtlety, which is exactly why you are a failure with potions."

"_Do_ you know anything?" Lupin asked.

Snape took out his wand and did a quick spell to verify for any hidden listening devices that might be in the classroom. After he was satisfied, he spoke quickly. "The only thing I can tell you is that no one is claiming responsibility, though many wished they had played this little bit of chaos sooner."

"But…" Harry started to say.

"That's all I can tell you. Now get out of my classroom before I forget that I'm a patient man."

Potter started walking away with Lupin following him. Remus turned back to Severus and held the goblet aloft. "Thank you," he mouthed.

"Be sure I get that back, Lupin," he sneered aloud to the man's retreating back.

###

Once outside the Potions classroom, Harry said he'd rather be alone, so he went back to Gryffindor Tower. Remus took his goblet of potion and went out onto the grounds of the school.

The weather was dreary, and few of the students were outside. He noticed that the Hufflepuff Quidditch team was having practice over on the pitch. Other than the meager and scattered company, he was alone with his thoughts.

He was walking by the hedge of one of the gardens as he lifted the cup to drink. It was the first of seven consecutive doses that he would have to take to become ready for the full moon. Before the nauseating potion could pass his lips, his body rebelled against him. Remus preemptively wretched into the bushes.

He laid his head down on the ground, feeling the cool of the earth. His vision became blurry, and he started to see blackish spots. Then the voice that wasn't really a voice at all came at him. It had been torturing him all week, and he had no idea what it was. It had the intent of sound but the feeling of pain.

The feeling became worse as he experienced something that would have reminded another of needles poking him the length of his spine. He rolled over on his back and focused on his breathing to make the sensation go away. He prayed to whichever deity would hear him that his inner fear that he had built a complete tolerance to Wolfsbane Potion was not becoming a reality. Daily he felt the tight reign he held on himself slipping further and further from his control.

Taking a last shuddering breath, he got up from the ground and turned with purpose, almost knocking down the man who had suddenly appeared near him by the bushes.

"Oh, Filius!" Lupin exclaimed, completely surprised by the tiny Charms professor.

"Remus," the man answered back with a fond smile gracing his face. He didn't appear to have noticed that Lupin had just been rolling around on the ground. "I had heard you were here. I have something for you."

He was mildly surprised to be sought out by the man because they had only minimal contact. Wearily, he asked, "What is it?"

"A book," Flitwick answered, sounding very proud of himself. "It's not just any book, either, but one from the Ravenclaw personal library. It has location and tracking spells."

Remus lifted his head with interest. To almost anyone else, he would have said the Order had already tried everything possible. For the head of Ravenclaw house, he was willing to make the concession that he had magical knowledge not readily available to the rest of the world.

Flitwick shoved the book into the werewolf's hands. "I know you're trying to find Miss Weasley. Maybe this will help you."

Lupin clutched the book to his chest as if it were a precious child. "Thank you."

"I must be going," he quickly said as if meeting with the werewolf had been clandestine.

Remus watched the man scurry away and then stop after only a few paces.

"Is this yours?" Filius asked, indicating the goblet which had spilled its contents all over the ground.

"No," Remus replied unblinkingly. "It belongs to Severus. Could you please return that to him?"

"But of course," the man replied in his squeaky voice, taking the goblet with him inside the castle.

Keeping a tight hold on the book, Remus walked to the gate of the school where he could pass beyond the non-Apparition wards and return to the Order Headquarters.

###

When Lupin made it back to the Headquarters, the trio of Aurors was not around, so he sat down in the stairway furiously thumbing through the book Flitwick had given him. He was hoping against hope that the Ravenclaws had something, though his inner cynic quietly doubted it. He wasn't sure how much time had passed as he was reading, but it had grown dark enough that he had to light his wand. About an hour after that, Tonks, Kingsley and Alastor came back to Grimmauld place.

"Hello, Remus," Tonks said as she stepped ahead of the two men and looked up to where he was sitting.

"I have a new book of spells," he said as he stood up and descended the stairs. "I've been reading it to see if there's something that can help us find Ginny."

He walked past the three into what had been the drawing room. When none followed, he turned impatiently to them. "Are you coming?"

Glances were exchanged behind his back, but they followed after him. Lupin opened the book on a desk and started to tell them the things he'd learned while he'd been waiting. They each started to inspect some of the spells for plausibility and had entered into a productive work session until Lupin started displaying erratic behavior once again.

Remus put his hands over his ears and cringed against a sound only he could hear. He groaned in pain against it. "Would you shut up that damned woman!"

Tonks looked at both Moody and Shacklebolt with concern clear on her face. "Remus…" she started.

"Damned horrid harpy," Lupin ground out, not hearing the warning in Tonks's voice.

She looked at the two men for support. Alastor was unusually silent, but Kingsley indicated to the two of them that they should leave. Tonks backed slowly out of the room with Moody thumping after her.

"Lupin," Shacklebolt's commanding voice boomed.

He turned sideways to the other man while still clutching his hands over his ears. "Are they going to silence the portrait?"

"Remus," Kingsley said, his voice dropping to a quietly serious tone. "We removed the portrait of Mrs. Black almost three months ago. You know that."

Lupin blinked his eyes several times and slowly lowered his hands away from his head. Meanwhile the other man leaned his long frame against the desk and watched him.

"Have you been taking your Wolfsbane Potion?" he asked, though not in a way that could be construed as doting.

"What business is that of yours!" the werewolf said, incredulous as to how this question was supposed to be relevant.

"When was the last time you had it?" he continued to probe.

"I went to Hogwarts today to get my potion from Snape," Remus replied truthfully.

Kingsley continued to study him. "And before that?"

Remus started pacing in annoyance, still agitated by the screams he was hearing. "Last month, obviously! Do you know that Weasley girl spilled it all over me?" Lupin got a strange light in his eyes, and snapped his fingers. "It was Ginny!" he said as if it were a eureka moment.

"Yes, the Weasley girl we're _all_ trying to find," Kingsley placated. "So when is the next full moon?" he asked, not diverted from his line of thought.

"In few days. Friday," Lupin replied with exaggerated patience. "Why are you talking to me like I'm a child? I've been doing this for a lot longer than I've known you!"

"You're off, Remus. Something just isn't right," Shacklebolt said with a growing sense that his friend was becoming unhinged slowly and completely. "Are you sure the potion is still working for you? Could you have gotten immunity to it?"

"That's absurd!" protested Lupin, though inside his blood seemed to run cold. While Kingsley was certainly gifted in memory spells and many other high-level forms of magic, there was no way he could know that deep-seated doubt.

Trying to be the calm voice of reason, Shacklebolt said, "There are many things we still don't know about werewolves, and you're one of them. It _is_ possible the potion isn't working."

"I don't have to stay here and listen to this," Remus fumed, walking angrily toward the door. "I'll be sure to tell Severus about your confidence in his potions-making skills."

"Remus," Kingsley warned, "don't walk away like that."

"I want to be left alone," he defiantly said before coming back to snatch the book away from Kingsley. "This is mine. Filius gave it to _me_!"

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric quote here is from "Driving Me Mad" performed by Neil Finn on the album _One Nil_ (released as _One All_ in North America.)


	10. Dreams Without Sleep

**CHAPTER 10:  
Dreams Without Sleep**

_She said I could never do that,  
But I know you can. You are in my dreams  
We are one person not two of a kind  
And what was mine is now in your possession  
_~Neil Finn

He walked up stairs clutching the book to his chest. Kingsley had been a friend, but how dare he make insinuations about his mental state? When Lupin entered his chamber, he securely locked the door. He wasn't going to have another incident with a visiting Tonks as he had the week previous. He Conjured some tea with the water from the pitcher at the nightstand, and he began to study the Ravenclaw book again to make sure he'd not missed anything the first time.

He _knew_ Ginny was alive because he'd seen her with his own eyes. He had also seen her being tortured. He took another sip of tea thinking how easy his life was here compared to what she must be suffering. He couldn't allow her captivity to continue any longer.

The day had been long and emotional, and quickly his eyes began to droop. Remus drifted off to sleep with book in hand.

"Surely, you plan on doing something about it, Remus," cajoled a voice near his ear.

He turned his face to the voice, certain that he'd locked the door, and he saw Sirius Black's young face. His gleaming grey eyes were shining with mischief as usual.

"Do something about what?" he asked him, his voice sounding scratchy.

"You have to save the fair red haired maiden from the clutches of the black knight!" Sirius urged as he brandished his wand like a fencing epée.

"Padfoot, what are you playing at?" he replied irritably.

"You aren't looking, Remus. Don't you know to keep your wits about you?" Sirius teased.

Remus heard him and took a confused look around. It was then that he noticed he was outside on the grounds of Hogwarts. How had he gotten here? He had already been there earlier today and didn't rightly care to go back. Then his eyes feel upon them. There she was, all beauty and loveliness, red hair tumbling down her back being held captive by the kisses of a black haired madman.

"James!" Remus called. "Are you ever going to let Evans go? She might want to breathe."

The two broke apart their kiss for only a moment. Her face was fully flushed, and James straightened the glasses over his green eyes.

Remus blinked and looked again. James didn't have green eyes. "Harry?" he asked.

"Who's Harry?" the red head asked breathlessly.

"He's your son with James," he accused, wondering what was wrong with these people.

"Harry Potter," a low voice hissed from the place Sirius had been. "He will die."

Lupin looked over his shoulder to see that the youthful elegance of Sirius Black had changed into something or someone else, and he had taken on the blazing green eyes like those of Lily Evans.

"Who are you?"

"I'm not the man you think I am," he said with a cold smile as he nodded back to the red head and the other black haired man.

His eyes changed to the blue of James, but yet he wasn't. He had done something to Lily so that she was as useless as a child's doll. The green color of her eyes drained to brown as he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and started running away with the limp body.

"No, you can't have her!" Remus shouted to him as he began to follow.

"Of course I can," he said confidently with the parody of Lily dragging at his feet. "I've always had her in every age."

"Not her," Remus challenged as he fell before her to make sure she was okay. He put his hand along her jaw and turned her face to him. When the woman who looked back to him, she was not Lily Evans.

"Ginny," he breathed in surprise.

Around them men began to gather and Remus looked up into the faces of five wizards all with similar masks of darkened hair and eyes that changed from blue to green. One with grey eyes stepped forth from the crowd and knelt near them.

"I told you to save her, Moony. Don't forget," Sirius said before the whole tableau disappeared.

Remus flinched awake and once again he was in his lonely room at the Order Headquarters. He glanced to his bedside, and there was the wedding photo with all people smiling back at him not looking at all like his dream. Life was normal again, and that meant that James, Lily and Sirius were all gone.

_And Ginny, too, if you don't hurry, Moony,_ a calm voice reminded.

He slammed the book down on the table and hung his head in his hands. He _had_ been trying to find her, and all he got for the growing obsession was a dream with the ghosts of old friends and other people he did not know.

"You're not mad, Remus," a familiar voice barked.

"I am if I keep hearing you when you're not here," he said to the empty room. The silence of the room was the only rebuttal he heard.

Remus took off his robes and slipped into bed hoping not to continue any odd or seemingly prophetic dreams. Let those be for the lot who believed in such nonsense.

###

Brown eyes blinked open in the darkness. If she had to guess, Ginny would say it was three in the morning. Barely anything moved at this time. Even the nocturnal rodents had a slump in their circadian rhythms near this time.

She'd heard it, though. A voice had called her name. She had been dreaming of Harry and Hogwarts, and he interrupted. No one in this place knew her name. None had asked because none had cared.

Ginny got up and shuffled to the window. She favored her damaged ribs as she peered outside. Moonlight was shining softly down. _The full moon is coming_, she thought as she stared out into the stillness. She wasn't particularly observant about the moon phases. She did well in astronomy, though she did well in most of her other classes. Compared to someone like a werewolf, though, she was an amateur.

_Werewolves. Now there did that thought come from?_ she asked herself. At least those were more pleasant thoughts than alternatives she'd had. She wasn't going to mentally beat herself down wondering when they'd find her or _if_ they'd find her.

This wasn't Hogwarts, and Jonathan wasn't Tom. Harry and Ron hadn't come with some quick and dashing rescue, but she was still Ginny. She was a survivor, not a shrinking violet or some unfortunate damsel in distress found in those books her mother pretended not to read.

Again, she surveyed the room around her for any weapons that she could use to protect herself. There was a set of dishes from the horrid breakfast of porridge they'd given her. Even something else as small as a loose rock would be valuable if she could use it the right way. The window, high and distant, was open to the weather, so it seemed like the most logical place from which to escape.

_I need to learn to speak to rats_, she thought to herself before walking around the room to think her way out of the problem. Morning would come on its own, so she'd make the most of her time. Perhaps the voice that had called out to her would sound again.

###

"Be still little girl!" he heard before he felt the cracking at the top of his skull. A warm, sticky mess oozed over him. Salty blood dripped into his eyes, and a red haze filled his vision.

With a jerk, he awoke. Remus rolled over, opened his blood free eyes, and rubbed his face. This was one of many dreams he'd been having since Saturday night that included some feeling of Ginny's torture. It was Thursday now and the dreams had only gotten steadily worse and clearer with the passing time.

He hadn't confided this information to the others. If they already thought he was unbalanced, this wouldn't help. He already knew from earlier times in his life what the suspicion of werewolves could do. It had left two of his best friends dead and their son orphaned.

This time in the waking, the wails started again in his mind. By now he was certain the sounds belonged to Ginny, though he couldn't prove it. Remus was not a fan of the far-fetched, and to consider that it really was her pain and impressions he was feeling was something that would be at home on the pages of the _Quibbler_.

The power of the screams in his mind made him double over in pain. He clutched at his ears as if to block away the sounds, but they would not leave him so easily. He had to find her if only to save his own sanity. Once the sensation subsided, he walked downstairs to find the others.

Mad-Eye was the first to acknowledge him. "Remus, you look like you haven't slept," he observed.

Lupin mumbled, "Bad night."

"You've been having bad nights for a while now," he pointed out without his normal bluster.

"There's a full moon tomorrow night. It's never easy," he hedged.

Remus hadn't been taking his Wolfsbane potion at all this cycle. It had started on Saturday when he vomited into the bushes outside of Hogwarts. Some inner part of him was rebelling because in the days since he'd found an easy way to make it appear as if he'd taken his potion. With a quiet incantation of "_Evanesco!" _it had all disappeared and none of the others was the wiser for it.

"Shacklebolt and I have to go to Wales on an assignment for the Order. No, not about Ginny," he said before Lupin could ask. "We won't be back until Saturday, but Tonks will stay behind if you should need her. If anything happens, we are only an owl away."

"Thank you," Remus nodded. "Good luck."

Moody tipped his bowler hat to Remus and left the Order Headquarters.

###

Hours later when Tonks came back to check on Remus she found him working on spells on the lower floor of the house.

"Nothing is working. Nothing at all!" he said aloud with his jaw was clenched in anger.

She knocked lightly on the frame of the door so he would know she was there. Then the young woman walked into the room to see what he'd been doing.

"Have you tried _all_ the location spells? Surely there must be something we missed." Tonks reached for one of the book to look again to see if some spell had been overlooked.

Remus lamented the facts. "She is unplottable. We can not find her anywhere, and not even the somewhat useful Weasley clock can give us a clue. I have asked Molly several times."

Tonks chose to bravely address the fear that had been on many minds. "It has been almost two weeks, Remus. Do you think she's still... alive?"

He shot her a seething glare for asking and then looked hopelessly at all the research items around him. "Damn it, Ginny! Where are you?" Lupin said before he slammed his fist down on the table in frustration, upsetting all the small objects that had been resting on the surface and making Tonks jump in the process.

"Just because you don't like the question doesn't mean it's not worth asking, Remus! All the spells we've tried only work if the person we are trying to find is alive." She had a sad look on her heart-shaped face.

Lupin looked at her in assessment and then sighed. "I know you're right about the spells. Even so, I just know she's alive and out there somewhere. I can _feel _it."

"I want to find her, too!" Tonks said in a rush. "Just don't go trying to save everyone that is lost because you couldn't save Sirius."

Remus paled at the mention. "This isn't about Sirius," he said quietly, "and you don't have to think everything I do is about him."

She bristled with both hurt and irritation. "You aren't the only one who lost him, Remus. Sirius was my cousin."

"I know that!" he spat back at her. "But this isn't about me. It isn't about Sirius, and it sure as hell isn't about you! This is about finding Ginny Weasley before another good and innocent family gets ripped apart by this horrible war."

He looked around the room at the gathered research and whispered almost inaudibly, "We must find her before she looses all hope, or worse: her life."

"She may have already lost it," she said again quietly.

"She hasn't," he bristled.

Tonks sighed at his stubborn nature and tried to console him. "Remus..." she said as she placed her hand on his arm.

He shook off her touch in annoyance. "Nymphadora, I don't have time for this! Stop trying to ply your 'feminine wiles' on me. It won't work!"

Tonks, who had certainly not at that time been trying to flirt with him, had finally had enough of continually being rebuffed, and though their situation was serious, she was going to argue her point.

"I was _not_ trying to do that, you imbecile, but even if I was, how could you turn me down? You know I can be your fantasy because I can look like anyone you bloody hell want!"

She emphasized it by morphing into a big-breasted blonde straight off the pages of a wizard's magazine centerfold. Then she tried a different tactic and made her appearance that of Sirius Black in his better days.

He looked distastefully at her and paced away. "Maybe I just don't like _you_. Did you ever think of that?"

"You just need a woman to give you a good shag," she said angrily.

He answered back with equal anger. "Oh, is that it? You somehow think I've never been with a woman before and need to be taught the error of my ways?"

"What else could it be? If you knew what it was like to be with me, you certainly wouldn't be turning me down right now!"

"No, I don't think you get it. I never said I hadn't been with a woman before."

"Is that right?" she asked challengingly. "How many then?"

"Lots," he said slowly coming toward her. "Let me tell you something else, so we are perfectly clear."

He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. "I am good," he said emphasizing the last word in particular. Then Remus whispered in one of the sexiest voices she had ever heard from him, "I am so good I could make your toes curl even if you weren't a Metamorphmagus." He dropped his eyelashes and opened his lips as to kiss her.

She whimpered with desire and tried to kiss him, but he stilled her with one fingertip on her lips. "And you will _never_ know just how good I am. Furthermore, all this innuendo of yours has nothing to do with finding Ginny Weasley!"

Remus then walked away from her while an angry and frustrated Tonks tried to regain her composure. He spoke to her again a moment later while he was putting away the books and maps they did not need to use. "If it's an older man you want, why don't you go pester Alastor?"

"Moody?" she said with high-pitched indignation.

"Yes," he replied calmly. "Moody likes you. In fact, you're one of the few people he actually _does_ like. I'm not saying it's romantic, but it's something."

"That's just weird," Tonks said in distaste.

"It's no weirder than you thinking you could actually be with me," he said

Tonks glowered at him and remained at a distance the rest of the day.

###

**Hogwarts, Marauders' 6th Year, Fall**

Lupin's discussion with Tonks about his past lovers made him remember a similar conversation he had with Sirius some twenty-one years and a lifetime ago when both boys had been in sixth year. It wasn't his sexual prowess that had been in question, but the number of partners he had already had. It had been laughable at that point because Sirius was as much of a dater as he was, if not more so.

Remus had returned to his room after a tryst he'd had with a willing Hufflepuff. He thought he was alone in the room, but he opened his bed curtains to find Sirius fully clothed and lying on top of his bed.

"Hey, lover!" Sirius gave him a teasing look as Remus was in the process of re-undressing himself.

"What do you want, Sirius?" he had asked with mild annoyance as he took off the shirt he had been haphazardly wearing.

"I just came to find out about all these girls you've been dating." He gave him another look of something that resembled amusement as Remus was now shirtless and the top button of his trousers was undone.

"Come to compare notes?"

"No, not exactly. I've come to tell you to stop."

"You must be daft, or in the least a hypocrite!"

"Me? A hypocrite! No, Remus. I am not the one who turns into a werewolf once a month!"

"No, that's me. I get all the fun of being a werewolf." His sarcasm was not missed by Sirius. "It's fun!"

"You could hurt someone more than you already do. Do you think those girls like being used and tossed aside?" He questioned him with wide eyes, but then muttered an aside to his own self, "Well some of them do, but that's beside the point."

"You mean there is a point to this? If you have one, make it soon because I am _really_ tired." He stretched and did a mock yawn. "I've had quite the active night."

"I can see that!" Sirius said with a measure of disgust. "None of those clueless girls you've been shagging have even the smallest idea about who you are. Do you really think they would touch you again if they knew? They wouldn't be able to handle it at all."

"I was tired before, and now I am simply bored. You are not the one to give talks about abstinence, Sirius."

"This isn't about abstinence." He shivered as if the word was one of the ugliest Dark curses. "It's about not fooling yourself and using people for the wrong reasons. You should date someone that really knows you and can deal with all the shite that goes with being in love with a werewolf!"

"Oh, really?" Remus angrily threw down the shirt that had still been in his hand. "And just who is out there," he wiggled his fingers outward to indicate the vague concept, "who really knows me? Can you name one person who can really deal with the fact that I am a werewolf?"

Sirius glared back at him. "Sometimes you are an insufferable git, Remus Lupin. You would be perfect for Snivellus. Why don't you go try to shag him next? There's plenty of grease. Maybe you can fit it in real tight!"

"Get out of my room, you ass!"

"This is my room, too, or has the perfect prefect forgotten that?" Sirius looked at Remus as if he were ready to rip his head off and use it for a chamber pot.

"If you don't get away from me right now, I might forget that you're supposed to be my _friend_," he spat as if the word was sour in his mouth.

"You need to get your priorities straight, Remus!"

"Oh, surely. Find a 'deep and meaningful relationship' with someone who knows I am a werewolf." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Such an easy task, too. Again I have to ask you, who is out there who really knows me and can handle truth? I bet you can't name even one person!"

"_I DO!" _he finally shouted back so filled with anger that he was shaking from head to toe. "But right now I hate looking at your damned face."

Sirius grabbed his outside cloak and stalked out of the room with a plethora of angry loud noises, colorful swear words and a slamming door. Remus just stood staring in shock at the door Sirius had just exited.

###

**12 Grimmauld Place**

That night, Remus took a candle to his room and set it on the table beside his bed. He was exhausted in the search that led to nothing except him either writhing in pain on the floor or suddenly falling asleep. At best, the week had been difficult, and tomorrow night he had to face the full moon.

He was fairly pragmatic for a wizard. It wasn't logical that the strange experiences were because he could hear Ginny. He was unsure of the reason he kept this important detail from the others except that some part of him doubted that it was real.

Perhaps it _was_ an insanity brought on by the need to save someone because he could not save Sirius. Tonks might have been right about him after all. Even if she wasn't, the insanity vote had already been voiced by Kingsley, and it permeated their working relationship like a malicious fog.

He changed from his day clothing to old cast off pajama bottoms from Sirius. He knew he wouldn't sleep well tonight. He didn't sleep well the night before a full moon under the best of circumstances, but with the dreams and aural hallucinations, he had no false impressions that the night would bring him rest.

_Ginny, if only you could talk to me. I can hear you,_ he thought in the same way that others mentally offer their prayers to their chosen deity.

Assuming he could hear her, which after two weeks was a safe assumption, he had to wonder the connection went to other way. That was the one thing he hadn't yet tried. It was worth a shot. If it failed, it wouldn't be any different than any other thing they'd tried to this point.

He stared at the candle on the table, meditating into the flame, and waited for the pain to come back to him like a familiar friend. When it did, he was almost happy about it. Using the same magical intent when he found her with the mirror, he tried to send his thoughts back to the source.

At first there seemed to be nothing coherent but the loudness of his own thoughts in his head. _Ginny. Ginny. Ginny_, he mentally beseeched. He refocused on the intensity of the flickering flame, how it danced but was essentially ephemera.

He took a deep centering breath and then though again more intensely, §Ginny!§

Like an arrow piercing the darkness, that final call hit its target. Whatever had been in its place before stopped still. Remus felt no more waves of physical or emotional pain. Not wanting to lose whatever edge me might have gained, the werewolf rushed onward in thought.

§Ginny, can you hear me? We've been searching for you for two weeks. _Please_ tell me if that's you out there!§

Silence surrounded him then and went so long that Remus doubted his earlier feeling of success was true. He heard nothing, though his ears strained to listen. He had fallen into a state of stupor and thought he found himself finally drifting in sleep. Then a crystal clear thought that was not his own came to his mind in the darkness.

§Who is this?§

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric used for this chapter comes from "I Feel Possessed" performed by Crowded House on _Temple of Low Men_.


	11. Les Entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête

**CHAPTER 11:  
Les Entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête**

_I'm the one who reads your mind  
See my life in your design  
True companion at your side  
_~Neil Finn

Remus was so shocked to receive an answer that he sat bolt upright in bed. His heart was pounding as fast as it had the morning he had awoken from the first dream of Sirius the day Ginny was taken. Calming himself, he returned his attention back to the meditation of the candle. He tried again to reach out with his mind.

§Ginny, it's Remus. You can actually hear me?§

A period of silence came again, and Lupin could not tell if his attempt was successful. When Ginny answered him again, she was cautious.

§I can hear you. I don't know _how _or_ why_, but I can.§

Remus would have started dancing a jig if there had been more space in his bedroom. Instead, he hopped out of bed and started excitedly pacing. He had a start, and he had to make plans quickly.

Her next thoughts stopped him. §What makes it so we can hear each other? I could simply be mad with wishful thinking. How do I know it really is Remus and that I didn't make you up?§

It was a good question. Lately he hadn't had very much confidence in his own perception of reality. If she had been having the same experiences he had been, he could sympathize with her skepticism. Remus searched his mind for something only Ginny would know. He wasn't sure that he could come up with something that was truly special until his eyes fell to look at one of the books on the table in the corner. Unlike all the other magic books that he'd been consulting for research, this one was an unrelated book of paintings from the Dutch Muggle artist M.C. Escher.

§Maybe you _did _make me up,§ he thought with a bit of incredulous humor. §After all, we have the same taste in art.§

That bit of absurdity got her attention. While artwork could conceivably be one of Jonathan's interests, she was curious what he would say they have in common and somehow prove he was Remus.

§Fine then,§ she sent back. §Tell me something only Remus would know about me and my taste in… art.§

§One evening two years ago Molly asked me to find Ginny and bring her to the kitchen for the evening meal. When I searched for her, I found Miss Weasley looking at a book in the Black family library. The book wasn't any ordinary book, either. It contained the artwork of a Muggle!§

Ginny let out a surprised laugh at the memory. So far he was telling it right. She had been alone in the library entranced by the book she had found. She was not as fascinated by all things Muggle as her father was. The thing that grabbed her attention about it at first was it was the minor miracle that the book was even there in the house, especially given Mrs. Black's particular personality. Then she started looking at the pictures, and she became enraptured.

When a shadow had fallen across the door, she looked up to see Remus Lupin standing in the doorway. She'd been too excited about the book and looked up at him, exclaiming, "It looks just like Hogwarts!"

"What does?" he asked her as he walked into the room.

"Come," she said, waving her hand for him to sit beside her. "Look at this."

He sat on the small bench, glanced at the book and saw that the pictures weren't moving. "Ginny, you've seen a Muggle book before. Surely Arthur has shown you…"

"You're not looking!" she chastised him as she stared in his eyes for emphasis. "Give me your hand."

He humored her and let her take his hand, but not before telling her that Molly had called them to eat.

"This won't take long," she replied as she showed him the picture.

The stairs went in many different directions, most that defied gravity. Indeed, it looked like a good flat representation of Hogwarts. Ginny held his hand as they traced the lines of the stairs. Up and down had no meaning. When they got to the end of one destination, they arrived in a completely different place than expected. It was simultaneously flat and dimensional. Looking at it almost warped the senses.

"Let me see that," he said as he shook his hand free. Then without Ginny's guidance he traced the same unique paths in the picture stairs.

"Do you think he was a squib?" she asked of the artist. She'd never seen such a good Muggle representation of Magical concepts.

"I don't know," Remus replied in wonder as he found a different image in the book.

Pointing to a picture of a man and woman entwined in one continuous band, Ginny said, "That reminds me of my parents. They're one person. In the picture, I mean."

Remus traced the picture, and that was also true. It was disturbing and romantic at the same time. "Fascinating," he breathed out.

"Okay, you two, what are you doing?" Molly Weasley demanded as if she was talking to her twins.

"Nothing," Remus immediately said, stuffing the book guiltily behind him. "I was just brining Ginny down to the kitchen to eat."

They both followed Molly downstairs. Ginny shot the older man a questioning look but didn't ask him out loud about the book. From time to time the rest of that summer, they both looked at the images in fascination, each picking out his or her favorites.

In the present time, Remus told her calmly, §You think his drawing of _Order and Chaos_ looks like your father's desk, and your favorite piece is _High and Low_.§

§Yes!§ Ginny immediately responded, and then she sighed in thought about Arthur Weasley. §_You_ liked the way he drew his own father.§

Lupin's thoughts flitted sadly to his own parents. §I did.§

§Did you ever find out how that book got in the library?§ she asked.

Remus smiled though she couldn't see him. §Sirius nicked it as part of a prank as far as I know.§

While they both did enjoy the works of Escher, Lupin thought it was time to end the art appreciation discussion. §Ginny, you've got to help me find where you are.§

§What can I do?§ she asked. She didn't know any substantial details about where she was.

§Can you describe your surroundings to me? There might be something we can use to find you such as a particular smell or weather pattern,§ he thought to her.

§I might be near the water,§ she started slowly. §I smell water in the air, but not salty like the ocean.§

§Maps!§ he exclaimed. §Let me open the maps in the library. You might be able to think your location to me if I do it just right. Maybe I can find your life energy.§

§How does that work?§ she asked again.

§How does anything work! I don't know how I'm "talking" to you any more than you do,§ he thought as he walked in the darkness.

§I can't speak,§ she stated. §They took away my voice.§

"Oooh," Remus spoke aloud with realization. There was a twisted logic to it that. If Ginny could not scream with her voice she would scream with her mind. Obviously she had, and it reached him.

"I'm _not_ a nutter," he laughed in relief.

Using his wand, Lupin brought many of the same maps off the shelf that he had used when he tried to find her with her mirror. He opened them and had them ready and waiting for whatever she might tell him.

§When you were a child, did you ever play the hot and cold game with your brothers? Let's try it the same way. As I pass over the map, let me know if you feel anything.§

Ginny agreed and they began the slow process of investigating each map. Most of them didn't give her any impressions at all, but she strained to feel something in case it would be valuable to Remus.

§There, I think,§ she finally told him.

He nodded to himself because it was similar to the experience he'd had with the mirror. He used another map to be sure it was accurate. Though Ginny was doubtful, every successive time he asked her, she led him back to the same place.

§I think I have it,§ he thought to her with caution.

Tears of relief sprang to her eyes. §You do?§

§Yes,§ he affirmed.

§Be _careful_,§ she warned him.

He chuckled wryly to himself. She didn't have to remind him because he was already on dangerous ground in trying to do the rescue on the day of the full moon.

§Get some sleep, Ginny,§ he concluded. §I'm coming for you in the morning.§

For the first time since being taken to the wretched place, she allowed herself that luxury.

###

**Moss Manor, Friday, November 14th**

In the morning Robert tucked his robes securely around him as he brought the tray of breakfast down to the cell where Moss kept his guest. The redhead had been unusually strong, he noted. Jonathan was good at breaking people, and most crumbled quickly. She was the exception to the rule, and that made the master all the more excited about her presence at the manor.

It was cold in the basement where she was. Robert hated going there when it was so cold, but having the master's things out of sight made it easier on the occasions that Moss entertained respectable visitors from the Wizard's Bank. His robes provided only small warmth against the chill.

He made a mental note to try to bring the girl a blanket. Moss wouldn't approve. As it was, she had only straw bedding and the thinnest of sheets for the occasional covering. Her clothing had been completely removed and destroyed. He had noticed a small golden necklace with some kind of pendant that she wore, but he knew that wouldn't last long through Jonathan's play, either.

He unlocked the cell and then entered, sliding the tray of porridge across the floor to her. "Your breakfast, miss."

He almost expected her to be able to speak and say "Thank you." She couldn't do that, of course. Jonathan had magically taken away her voice. Robert had never personally heard the girl's voice, and on the rare occasion he wondered about its sound.

He saw that there were still some dishes in her cell that had not been removed. He drew his wand and stepped closer to her. "Don't move. I'm only cleaning," he said with a gesture.

Ginny nodded her understanding as he bent to retrieve the other tray by hand. He kept his wand trained on her in case she should suddenly try something. The smug look she had on her face this morning was enough for him to be wary of her.

When he was at the floor near her, he did notice that it wasn't as cold in this cell as he'd remembered. It was a puzzle because it had been extremely cold for previous "guests." Often if the games of the master hadn't hurt them, the sheer cold did.

Robert took his items and walked away from the girl. At the door, he securely locked the cell and made his way quickly to the warm kitchens upstairs.

Ginny continued to smile after he left. Remus was coming to free her soon, and she'd be free of this god-forsaken place.

###

When Tonks found him in the morning, Remus was asleep on the library floor with several maps and papers underneath him. She laughed loudly at the sight of him sprawled there over everything. When he lifted up his head, he had sleep-induced messy hair and patterns of rumpled paper embossed on his face.

He sprung up with a huge smile on his face from his position on the floor and ran to greet her at the door. In his excitement about his discovery he took her in his arms and swung her around the room. Tonks squealed, so he put her down. Then he framed her face with his hands and gave her a deep kiss that left her stunned and confused. He walked away from her laughing happily while she tried to figure out what had just happened.

She took a few deep breaths and shook her head. It was a rather impressive kiss, she had to admit, but that didn't explain why he'd done it when only yesterday he was being offensively rude. "Remus, is there something I should know?"

"Yes," he said with a laugh and a dazzling smile. Fixing his eyes on her, he declared, "I know where she is!"

She raised a bright pink eyebrow in disbelief. "You found Ginny," she said skeptically.

He smiled and paced with excess energy. He shook his finger at her in warning and seemed to laugh, but no words came out. Remus then composed himself and faced her. "I was right about her being unplottable, but I've narrowed it down to this forested region."

He found one of the maps on the floor and indicated the area. "Right here. So let's go get her now, and the faster the better."

"Kingsley and Alastor are away on assignment, and I'm not going anywhere alone with you!" Tonks declared. "We'll wait until tomorrow when they come back."

"We're doing it now, and you _are_ going with me," Lupin replied with hauteur she hadn't heard from him before. "You will go because either I'm right and we'll actually find Ginny or I've gone completely mad and need protecting from myself. After all, that's it, isn't it?"

"What is?" she asked guardedly.

"You all think I'm a danger to myself and everyone else and that I need to be watched just like a baby in a pram. Don't try to deny it. Aren't we past lies now?"

"Remus, we all care about you…" she began weakly.

"Don't think I haven't noticed the way you all have been treating me differently in the past few weeks. I am not wrong about this, Nymphadora."

"No," she declared out of hand.

His excited expression turned dark and he walked over to her. He touched the spikes in her hair before placing the palm of his hand on her cheek. "Then I'm doing this without you."

Remus cleaned up the library with a flick of his wand and walked out of the room without another look at Tonks.

###

Though Remus Lupin was beginning preparation in London, across the country where Ginny Weasley was held captive, a different preparation had begun. Jonathan Moss had gathered his various servants and minions before him.

"Boys! Men! Whatever you are, tonight is a very special night," he said with a satisfied look.

"Is it just because you say so, or...?" Stewart impudently dared to ask.

That caused a glare from Jonathan who had never really liked Stewart very much. Theo might have been more insolent and Frank more peculiar, but it was Stewart who rankled Jonathan's nerves most.

"Tonight is special because," he paused to emphasize with a smile and looks into all men's eyes, "it is a full moon. We are going werewolf hunting."

"But we haven't seen one of those in ages. They simply aren't here any more," Stewart said, sounding not at all impressed. "The Ministry has done most of the extermination already. Not that they would admit to it," he said in an aside to one of the other men.

Moss held up his hand for patience. "Unfortunately, you are correct; however, is there not a forest outside?"

Stewart nodded.

"Then I have the confidence that there will be a werewolf in it somewhere. Besides, I have the perfect werewolf treat." His concluding look was one of sublime satisfaction.

"The girl?" Stewart protested.

"Yes, actually," he smiled in satisfaction. "And... even if we don't find the werewolf, we can say we had a romantic walk in the full moon's light. Oh, how sweet."

Stewart gave Jonathan an uncertain look.

Jonathan finished giving his men their instructions. When he concluded, he told Stewart privately, "Get her ready."

Moss handed him the long dagger he usually carried in his boot. Stewart looked at the sharp blade and its jeweled hilt. It was as dangerous as it was gorgeous. His eyes started to gleam as he plotted what he would do with it.

###

Lupin's dramatic change of moods from his anger of the day before to his current apparent happiness left Tonks feeling unsettled. Unfortunately, what he said made sense. Right now, they didn't quite trust him, but if his instinct, or whatever it could be called, was remotely right, then the risk was worth it. It made her decision an easy one.

She walked quietly to his room and stared in through the open doorway. Fully dressed by this time, he was packing a small satchel.

"There is a full moon tonight, isn't there?" she asked gently.

He turned his head and looked at her over his shoulder. "Yes," he replied, finishing his packing. "We already discussed that."

"It's not," she said haltingly, "a good idea to go alone at any time, especially not for a werewolf right now. I will be coming with you."

"Good," he nodded. "If there is any thing that you need to do, you better do it now because we are leaving soon."

She nodded her understanding and went back to her own temporary quarters. A half hour later, she was ready and waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

Remus took a look around at his surroundings as he descended the stairs, and he made a resolution. "When this mission is over, I'm leaving this house for good. I hate it here."

"Then why did you stay?" Tonks asked.

"For Sirius," he said softly. "It doesn't matter any more."

"Where will you go?"

"I have my own home. It's one of the few earthly possessions I _do_ have," he said as they walked out the door.

He turned back and waved his goodbye to the empty building. Then they Apparated away.

###

Stewart came into Ginny's chamber with a shiny blade in one hand and a set of chains in the other. He had never before come in alone, and she looked at him cautiously. He incanted the spell that bound the shackles to her, and suddenly she was hanging from the wall.

Without bothering to speak to her, he walked over and cupped her bare legs. He let his hands reach up to fondle her genitalia. When Ginny squirmed in protest, he laughed and stopped his intimate touching of her. He stepped back with a look of pride on his face.

Then he showed her the knife and made he clear what he was about to do. He slashed her thighs and then placed a few slashes on her face, arms and torso. He didn't resist touching her breasts as he was making the cuts. When Stewart was satisfied with his work, he took her chained body and dragged her out of the room.

Frank fell in step with Stewart outside the dungeon as they walked together through the hall. "Nice little addition. Is the boss going to set her free and try to hunt her if he doesn't get his werewolf?"

"No," Stewart said, "this delicate morsel is the next link on the werewolf food chain."

"I didn't think he'd let her go so easily," the other man said. He made it sound like he thought Ginny was more trouble than she was worth.

"I don't know what his plans are, but it should be interesting. If the werewolf doesn't get her, something else might," he said to Frank though he was leering at her.

"Something or someone like you, I assume," Frank said as he hefted a crossbow.

The smirk was enough of a confirmation. "So it's crossbows, is it?"

"The normal," he said. "Crossbows, poison arrows, reinforced magical wards and the like. I've never actually seen a real werewolf. Have you?"

"No. Between the Ministry bastards and You-Know-Who in the last War, I don't think we have many left."

"You know, I have heard something about male werewolves…" Frank began and left his thought dangling.

Stewart gave the other man a sly look and then laughed heartily. "This promises to be eventful."

_Werewolves!_ Ginny's mind scrambled as she listened to these men talk. She did not know if there were other werewolves in the area, but she knew Remus would be walking into a deliberate trap if she didn't warn him. This hunting party of Jonathan's could either be her escape or his death, but something had to be done.

Ginny mentally shouted to try to reach him. §Remus! They're setting a trap for you, and they're going to use me as the bait!§

She tried to listen for his answer, but none came quickly. She could feel that he was somewhere out there, but the connection was muffled. She had only just begun sharing thoughts with him, and she could not venture a guess how his change into a werewolf might affect their communication.

Ginny then realized that she didn't really know at all how being a werewolf actually affected Remus. One thing was certain, by the end of the night if he didn't reach her soon, she was bound to find out. Ginny tried again with more force of will to reach him.

§Remus! Be careful! They are going to hunt you! REMUS!§

In her own life, the young Weasley had felt fear many times because of dangers great and trivialities small. Fear was not new, though she used the shield of Gryffindor bravery, but the scope of her experience changed when Ginny met the feral mind of the werewolf.

In the short time she had heard Lupin's words in her head, she had started to get used to how he felt to be there. With his own human thoughts, he was obviously still the same man who had been her teacher, who had lived with Sirius that summer, and the same one who had agreed with her on something as obscure as art preferences.

This mind, however, was radically different and was attacking her with the ferocity of a flesh-eating parasite. Ginny felt it as intimately as if all the thoughts belonged to her, and that was the most frightening thing of all. The presence of the werewolf mind within her own thoughts was dark, angry and consuming, wanting to pull her under with him and make her forget that she was human.

She cried silently as she tried to call to what was left of the human man. §Remus, if you're still there, please hear me…§

* * *

**A/N: **The song lyric used for this chapter comes from "Wherever You Are" performed by Neil Finn on the album _One Nil_ (released as _One All_ in North America).


	12. The Hunting Party

**CHAPTER 12:  
The Hunting Party**

_Oh, hell, trouble is coming  
Out here panic and alarm  
Black shapes gather in the distance  
Looks like it won't take long  
_~Neil Finn

When they Apparated into the forest, Remus immediately felt the strength of the wards surrounding the area. These were not like Hogwarts where one expected to feel the power of ancient magic, but they were present and almost tangibly powerful. The discovery did make sense to him because there was most definitely something forceful here acting as a shield to all the other magic spells and rendering Ginny unplottable.

Tonks had her wand drawn defensively and was taking in as much of the surroundings as possible. It was a very ordinary forest with trees. Diurnal animals were going about their daily activities while the nocturnal animals slept. There was nothing out of place in the sounds being made that could telegraph to her that the animals might actually know something.

"What are we looking for, Remus? Now that we're here, what's the rest of your plan?" she asked him while keeping her eyes trained warily on the surroundings.

"People," he said. "Ginny is being held prisoner, so we have to find people."

Tonks sighed. How true and utterly logical that piece of information was, and how ultimately useless it was, as well. If Lupin was going to lead her on a wild Ginny chase, she was just going to have to let him do it. _For now_, she mentally told herself.

"Lead the way," she said as she willed this expedition to be finished as soon as possible.

He fingered the wand in his pocket and started walking through the forest, picking out a narrow path that only he could see. The advantage of having the tall man walking in front of her meant that Tonks was protected from any branches and leaves in their way. She could also watch him, and this time her scrutiny would be acceptable. The Metamorphmagus still didn't know if he was right about finding the girl's location.

Ahead of her, Remus stumbled once and reached for his head. He blinked against the strange sensation. It had not felt like the pain of Ginny's calls that he had experienced the last two weeks. It could be something in the magic of the wards or even something related to his upcoming transformation. Though he wasn't sure of the cause, he knew that the available time window to find Ginny was getting shorter with each second that ticked away. He had to find her before he became a werewolf. With that sense of desperation reinforcing his singular purpose, he strode on through the forest with Tonks following in his wake.

###

Unaware of the visitors on his land, Moss and his crew were at the mansion preparing for the evening's hunting event. Frank had delivered the crossbows he had found, and Stewart had secured the girl until the time they would need her. The plan was running smoothly as they were making last minute checks on equipment and magical provisions.

Jonathan was looking forward to the evening with great anticipation. Being the musically-minded person he was, he had a song for almost every occasion. There were plenty of popular songs related to the moon, but he relied on his simple children's melodies to capture the mood.

"_A hunting we will go! A hunting we will go! High ho, the derry, oh! A hunting we will go..." _

His lyrical voice continued happily as he double-checked the charmed silver arrows. It was a nod to Muggle superstition about werewolves. Even if the creatures were not fatally vulnerable to the substance as the stories would have some believe, it was always better to be safe than sorry.

"Do you think he will _ever_ stop singing?" Theo whispered grouchily to one of the other men who was also getting ready for the hunt.

"Not unless you curse him with Silencio," his companion answered in low tones.

"I heard that! You two don't sing because you don't have joy in your lives. How sad it is to be you," Moss answered with a wrinkled brow.

An irritated look passed between the two men, but they knew better than to say anything out loud again.

"Now," Jonathan said to them with a serious tone that was all business, "finish getting prepared, or my singing will be the least of your worries."

He raised an eyebrow and dared them to challenge him while his hand rested calmly on his crossbow. He didn't have to speak loudly to make threats, so they continued their work while their boss found another jolly song to sing.

###

"There is nothing here," she growled after nearly two hours of tramping through the woods. "If there is, we have gone around and round in circles and are no closer to finding it than we were before. Even the children in the Muggle fairy tales knew to leave a trail of bread crumbs, Remus."

"I know she's here," he said softly. "But I don't know why she won't answer me."

"Right," she said in exasperation. "We can just call out her name. 'Ginny! Where are you?' Why didn't I think of that? I think I'll do that right now!"

Tonks called out a few times in the same sarcastic manner that she had just used, but Remus did not rise to the bait. Instead, he sat down and tried to think his thoughts to Ginny as he had done so clearly and almost easily the night before. The pounding in his head increased, and he wondered if he was doing something wrong. Perhaps he needed to meditate into light. If it was a failure, it would not be the first time.

He took out his wand and said a quiet, _"Lumos!"_

§Ginny,§ he called out across the uncharted space between them. §We're here, but you have to let me know where you are. Help me, Ginny.§

He tried several more times with different words but to no avail. As he incanted, _"Nox!" _he noticed Tonks, who had stopped her mocking long before this point, nervously looking to the sky and back to him. The shadows were ominously growing deeper and deeper. The sunlight of the November day would be too short, and the time of moonrise was too close.

Remus touched his face with his fingertips, inspecting his skin. Then he quietly checked his arms and a few other places on his body. The first signs of his change were starting to take place. Generally, on the day preceding the full moon, it felt to him as if his skin was literally crawling over him getting ready to reshape itself into a bloodthirsty beast. In that, it might be the closest he would ever experience to being a Metamorphmagus like Tonks, but unlike as it was for Remus, she never indicated that it felt uncomfortable when she changed. As an adult, he had learned to sublimate his pain, but his transformations were no less physically or mentally demanding.

At last, Moony stood up and calmly told her, "You have to leave me."

"Excuse me?" Tonks replied, allowing her temper to show. "You begged me to come with you on this poor, idiotic rescue mission of yours, and now you want me to go away? I would ask you what in hell is wrong with you, but you wouldn't tell me the real answer anyway."

"I have some truth for you," he whispered with deathly stillness. "The full moon is less than an hour away from rising, mere minutes really, and I have not taken any Wolfsbane Potion this week. That's right. None."

She opened her mouth and stared at him in silent disbelief until she got her wits back around her. "But I saw you drink it!"

"You and the others saw what I _wanted_ you to see," he told her again in that detached calm way that was starting to put her on edge.

Without waiting for comment, he began to take off his clothing, slowly and steadily as if she was not there watching his every movement. He folded each piece and placed it in an orderly pile.

"Come back to the Headquarters with me, Remus," she begged him. "You shouldn't be out here alone. If you come back with me, we can reinforce the locks on your room, but don't stay here."

"I am _not_ going anywhere," he replied. "I won't leave this forest because I know she's still here somewhere. And you—you need to be safely away from me."

Tonks started to protest again, but she never finished her because he interrupted her.

"Do you think you can _really_ control me?" he said as he leaned closer to her. "If you don't leave, I will tear you apart. No matter how well you think you know me, you have never seen me when I am a fully transformed werewolf."

Tonks sucked in her breath as she realized that he was right, and then she noticed that Lupin's eye color was changing from a human placid grey to luminous silver as she watched him.

Whatever she might have said back to him came out sounding like a frightened whimper. He continued his ritual as if she had offered no objections. When he was finally naked, she could see that the transformation that had started subtly in his eyes was moving into the rest of his body with dramatic force, changing him from a normal man into a beast.

"Go home, Nymphadora," he ordered in almost a true growl. "Bring Alastor and Kingsley back with you in the morning, and then we will find Ginny together."

She nodded in terrified silence and then fled from the werewolf.

###

**Hogwarts, Marauders' 2nd year**

When Remus had gone to Hogwarts, it had actually been Peter at the beginning of their second year who first figured out that he was a werewolf. For all his later faults, Peter was the most observant one in the group when it came to figuring out other people. James and Sirius were often too busy with their practical jokes and chatting up girls to be the first to notice many of the subtle things Peter observed.

"So you seem to be gone at least a few days every month. It must be a nice privilege," Peter commented to him after the September full moon.

The young Remus blushed and quickly tried to cover up his secret. "My mother is really sick, and I... I'm a good student. The professors know I can make up the work."

"I know you're smart. Why do you think I wanted you to be my study partner?" the blond boy smiled.

"Oh, you're good, too, Peter. You seem really good at Transfiguration," Remus supplied as a way to deflect the attention away from him and his monthly absences.

"I am also good at Care of Magical Creatures," he said importantly, "so I have to ask you something. Are you a werewolf, Remus?"

There it was, out in the open. When Peter asked the question, Lupin felt like he had been punched in the stomach and all the air rushed out of his lungs. His first reaction was denial.

"No, no, no. No, I'm not." The signs of panic in his eyes indicated quite the contrary.

Peter shrugged it off aloofly. "Whatever you say, mate, but I think it would be great to have a werewolf as a best friend. I'll just have to settle with _you_, even if you're not a werewolf."

They seemed to fall back into the same comfortable pattern that they held for the other days of the month. When the full moon came again in October and Remus made his departure, Peter found him again, asking with a laugh, "Are you a werewolf yet?"

Remus denied it and fled to the Shrieking Shack where he spent his transformation in lonely and painful solitude.

In November, Peter came to Remus again. "You don't look too good," he observed. "The full moon is tonight, so you might need to go visit your mother."

"What do you want, Peter?" Remus begged his friend.

Pettigrew smiled back haughtily. "The truth would be a good start because I know I am right. You are a werewolf."

Remus was infuriated with that smile of his, so full of confidence. "Sometimes you are worse than James!"

"So you admit it!" He pounced on the idea with triumph.

"Yes!" Lupin conceded in shame. "But if anyone finds out, I will never be able to come back here, either."

"Wait a minute! Who said I was going to tell anyone?" He looked affronted that Remus would even think that about him, but Peter relented upon considering it. "Well, I _might _tell James, and you know _he_ will have to tell Sirius. But that's it, really. No one else needs to know."

Remus sighed with the weight the truth of his lycanthropy. He simply didn't have the time to argue with Peter, so he walked away and slipped out one of the secret passages in the castle to go to the Shrieking Shack.

###

In the following morning after he had admitted the truth to Peter, Remus rushed back to the Gryffindor common room where he found both James and Sirius looking very shifty, which was not an unusual expression for either of them. Only this time, the pair looked more suspicious to the young werewolf than normal.

"Peter told you, didn't he?" he demanded anxiously.

James immediately took the look of pure innocence. "We don't know anything. We've been here minding our own business."

"That's right," Sirius said as he gave darting glances at Remus.

"I don't believe you. What do you know?" he demanded of his two friends.

James moved closer to Sirius and passed something to him behind their backs. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Sirius deftly took whatever it was James slipped him as he smiled and nodded in cover.

By then Remus was too worried about what they might have known, so he was not alert to noticing his friends' odd behavior. He marched right up to them and demanded in a low whisper, "Peter told you I'm a werewolf, didn't he?"

Pettigrew, who had quietly entered the room during this exchange, defended himself by saying, "I did no such thing. _You_ just told them all by your self."

"You're a what!" James practically shouted after he mentally digested this new piece of information.

"Werewolf, you tosser!" Lupin hissed back at his young friends. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No," Sirius said with awe in his voice. His esteem for Remus had just increased exponentially. "That's amazing."

"Bloody hell," Remus swore. "Peter, you planned this all along, didn't you?"

The blond boy nodded excitedly. "And now that we all know, it's time to have fun."

Sirius heard the word "fun" and was instantly willing. "Like what?"

"I have a few ideas," said James, the quick thinker and lead mischief maker in the group.

The four Gryffindors quickly discussed the possibilities of what they could do with the information about their friend. If they had not already been a close-knit group of friends by then, the Marauders would have officially came into existence that November day just after the full moon.

###

**Moss Manor, After Moonrise**

Ginny Weasley was a fighter when she knew what to fight against. During her first year, when the ghost of Tom Riddle had materialized and trapped her in the Chamber of Secrets, she had already gone beyond thinking of him as a friend, but his hold on her had been too strong to fight. Because she could not fight then and because she feared for her present, Ginny fought the encroaching mental darkness with the few tools she had.

She was too busy in the battlefield of her own mind to notice right away that Jonathan had appeared before her. She was trying to warn Remus of the danger to them both without being pulled under by the suffocating power of the werewolf psyche. When she finally noticed the man's smiling face, her sense of urgency deepened, and she tried harder to reach the werewolf who could either be her salvation or become another victim of Jonathan's cruel machinations.

Moss waved his wand, and Ginny momentarily saw the illusion of an hourglass with sands sliding through it. "It's almost time, dearest. I think tonight will be special for both of us. I've come to give you a present, too. I think you will enjoy it."

He smiled enthusiastically to her, and Ginny looked at him with distrust. "First, it's time for you to have the use of your voice again. You may also be able to gain your freedom depending on how fast you can outrun a werewolf. You may not believe me, but there is one out there.

"There will be other obstacles," he continued as he looked at a small glowing white stone in his hand. "At the same time that this werewolf is hunting you, I and my men will be hunting the both of you. Be certain that we will shoot you if we see you. That means you will have to keep moving to find the break in the magical wards. There is one; I promise you that on my honor."

Jonathan paused and looked at Ginny while he waited for some acknowledgement from her that she understood what he was saying. She moved her head once, and then he stepped closer to her protesting what he saw.

"I should know better than to let one of my men take care of the important things," he grumbled as he looked at her. The cuts that Stewart had made to make her bleed and, therefore, attract the werewolf were no longer open and flowing.

Moss put the white stone in his pocket and pulled out an extremely small potion vial. He held it up to eye level with Ginny in his line of sight behind it. He uncorked the stopper and then applied the clear brown liquid on points all over her face, neck, arms and torso.

"Pheromones," he said in off-handed explanation as he put the bottle back in his pocket. "He will be able to smell you much better that way."

At last, Jonathan used his wand and muttered the counter-curse that would restore to Ginny the use of her voice. His blue eyes flashed with a mirth that bordered on menace when he was done.

"Speak!" he ordered, the traces of his manic nature coming to the fore. "This time when you scream, I will be able to hear you."

She held her breath and did not speak. She would not give him the pleasure of the sound of her voice. He was not concerned with her resistance to him. Jonathan grabbed Ginny by her long mane of hair and walked her out of the room.

As he pulled her down the hallway behind him, she noticed an assemblage of men, many she had not seen before, who were armed with crossbows and other hunting weapons. Ginny wondered where their wands were hiding before she dismissed the thought. She felt silly for having that moment of calm logic in a situation that wasn't logical at all.

When at last they'd reached the outer doors, Jonathan removed her shackles and chains. Then he pushed her to the ground. "Go," he said in a soft whisper.

Ginny looked up at him and the men flanking behind him. At first she was frozen to her spot on the ground, but her apprehension grew as one of the men stepped out in front of Moss and raised his wand to utter a curse.

"_Cru_…" he started, but Jonathan immediately grabbed the other man's wand hand and stopped him.

"We do _not_ use Unforgivables. How dare you," he hissed angrily.

"Yes, sir," he nodded. The henchman then incanted something that the young witch had never heard before.

Most curses came out of the wand in colored jets of light, but this was not what happened. The very air seemed to take on a new quality as if a private storm had suddenly moved above her. Within the dark cloud of the night came a flash of electricity that burned through Ginny's body. From deep within, almost forgotten with lack of use in the short amount of time she had been a captive, her voice arose like a geyser breaking forth from the earth.

The scream that left her filled the night with such primal force that it attracted the immediate attention of an untamed being just coming in to consciousness at the fringes of the forest. The werewolf with liquid silver eyes glowing in response to the sound lifted his head, and his senses were inundated by the irresistible smell of the one who had cried. He stealthily slipped through the forest to find the source.

Beside Ginny, another piece of stimuli registered in her muddled brain. She felt the zing of an arrow as it flew past her face, the flight feather slicing into the unblemished skin of her cheek. In another instant, another arrow was lodged beside her foot, a mere hair's breadth from having impaled her.

She turned her wide eyes back to the men, and then she finally understood. With desperation she scrambled away, falling on her face as she went. She looked over her shoulder to see if they were following her, but they were moving with slow assurance. Her legs wobbled as unsteadily as those of a colt that has just been born, but she ran blindly into the dark night with all the determination for freedom that she had within her.

The werewolf was angry because there was something out there that belonged to him, and he wanted it back. The sound of the scream would lead him to it. He lifted his head once more to the wind, and the strong scent came to him like a flood of colors to his senses, though his eyes could see only in shades of grey. It reeked of blood and sex, and it was so clear and very close.

Ginny ran through the trees with some of the branches slapping her in the face. At one tree, her hair got tangled in a branch, and she jerked away. She came to a tree with a branch low enough for her to grab, and she scrambled to climb up into what little foliage remained during the changing season. She had to assess her situation. If there really was a break in the magical wards as Jonathan had promised, perhaps she could be able to see it from the height in the trees. Certainly, she would not be able to see any mode of escape if she stayed on the ground and surrendered to her death.

She looked out and to the south of her she thought she saw a door of transparent blue-white light. Ginny blinked her eyes. It couldn't be that easy or that simple. It was a trap like any other, she assured herself.

When she heard the sound of one of the hunters approaching her, she held her breath absolutely still. A twig snapped directly under her tree, and the man just stood there staring at the red hairs that had clung to the bark. He smirked as he looked up into the tree and saw her perching there. As he moved his wand to cast a spell, Ginny jumped down from the branches, knocking him to the ground Taking the crossbow he had dropped, she bludgeoned him to make sure he was incapacitated. Then she threw the weapon away and ran for the door of light she saw through the trees.

After she had gone a few meters, she mentally chided herself for not thinking to take the man's wand. She didn't even break it, so when he gained his senses, he would still be armed and dangerous. _I only have to worry about that if they find me_, she told herself.

§Remus! Find the door of light!§ she called out to him. She didn't know if she would make contact with him, but she had to help him if possible.

The werewolf had been tracking her by smell, and he felt something strike his thoughts. It was as infuriating as a flea, but it drew him closer to her. She was alone and moving quickly. He could almost taste the salt in the sweat that was coming off of her. When she paused moving, he sensed what caused it. There were men slipping through the forest surrounding her. The beast defied their insolence. This woman child was his! He had claimed her first.

The small hairs on Ginny's neck had risen, and she knew that there had most definitely been a trap in the illusion of an escape portal. She could not hear the men moving, but she felt them. Then Jonathan himself stepped out from behind one of the bushes and threw a bola around her ankles, bringing her to the ground.

Wiggling her legs like a mermaid caught out of water, Ginny tried to get away from him and undo the tethered weapon from her legs. With haste, she managed to free herself, though he looked unconcerned at her progress. His easy manner telegraphed his opinion that he knew she wouldn't escape. He was the cat, and she was just the mouse in his game.

Ginny aimed the bola back at him and threw it as if it were a bludger. If she'd had more experience with it, she could have wrapped it around his neck and strangled the man. Instead, he was anticipating her move and stopped its trajectory in midair.

A few feet from both people, the werewolf was hiding in the foliage watching them intently. He wanted the girl. She had the warmth burning inside her that he could see as a color, and that fascinated him. Meanwhile the dark-haired infidel was trying to harm her. As she thrashed away, he followed her and left the other humans unaware that he had seen them.

Ginny continued to run toward the edge of the forest where she thought she saw her escape. She tried not to notice the taste of coppery salt from blood and sweat that seeped into her mouth. When bark of trees scratched her skin or when thorns hidden in the underbrush pierced her feed, she ignored those sensations, too.

Finally, she saw that she was within reach of the barrier, so she sped up her pace even more. In her determination, she missed one vital thing. Her foot got caught in a tree root, and she toppled over onto her head and smashing her knees against one of the knots in the root. With tears in her eyes, she freed herself and then rolled on her back only to find herself face to face with Moony for the first time.

She'd never before seen Lupin's werewolf form, and to be face to face with him was beyond comprehension. Intellectually knowing the fact of his lycanthropy and seeing the reality of it were two different events. She saw his silver eyes, so different from the amber color that other werewolves had, and she smelled the odors of sweat and fur. He was huge, and there was nothing about him that would ever give the impression of a harmless little puppy. She didn't want to look at or study him; she had to flee beyond the wards and have him follow her.

Ginny awkwardly crawled backwards away from him like a crab moving across blistering sands. Then she found she could move no father away from him. At that realization, she began to softly whimper. "No, Remus. No…" Alternately she was tried to reach into his mind with hers. §Remus! Please!§

At the intrusion of her voice in his mind, the werewolf snarled, showing again clearly the teeth that could be used to rip her apart.

"Don't hurt me," she softly begged. "It's Ginny. You know me. _Please._"

He languidly stepped over her, and she could feel the hairs of his underbelly tickling her skin. He looked down on her with a pause and appeared to be studying her. As her hope began to fail, Ginny thought that everyone in her life had hurt her at one time or another, including those she trusted. Remus would be no different.

Then she felt his teeth slip into the juncture of her neck and shoulder, piercing her like serrated knifes. She could not cry out in pain. She gasped as tears welled in her eyes. She was so close, if only… But there was to be no "if only." The werewolf was above her, feasting on her blood, and somewhere in the distance she heard the sounds of Jonathan's hunting party coming nearer.

She did not know how long she was there under Moony, but he had lapped up all the blood that he had released from her like he had an aching thirst that could not be sated. He finally stopped, and turned his head, giving a territorial growl at the one who would dare interrupt him.

Jonathan stepped out of the shadows and walked confidently over to them with his crossbow aimed at Remus. The black-haired man stood in the moonlight looking as handsome as he was dangerous. He had cornered both of them, and waves of power were radiating off of him. Ginny, watching him from her position pinned under the werewolf, whimpered pathetically one last time. The werewolf, however, snarled at their mutual attacker in challenge.

Moss released the trigger of his crossbow, letting fly the arrow that had been magically enhanced. The silver-tipped arrow went right through Moony's shoulder, making the beast fall limply on top of Ginny. She wrapped her arms around him as she felt the dead weight of the werewolf smother her, and her world disappeared into black.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric used for this chapter comes from "In the Lowlands" performed by Crowded House on the album _Temple of Low Men_.


	13. The Mortal Coil

**CHAPTER 13:  
The Mortal Coil**

_And you laugh at yourself while you're bleeding to death.  
And somebody else is always breathing down your neck  
_~Neil Finn

Ron Weasley blinked his eyes against the moonlight shining in on his face. He thought he had closed the curtains of his bed before he went to sleep. He had been out late on patrols as part of his Head Boy duties, so it was quite possible that he forgot to close them before he fell into bed.

He stretched and looked at the moon through his window. When he had been out patroling the night before, the moon had been full, round and exactly the kind that brought out werewolves. The only one he personally knew was in London, so he didn't give much thought to Remus. Thankfully, nothing else surprising had happened on his patrols. There were no huge spiders or anything else to give him worry. He already had enough as it was with Ginny being missing.

He reached under his pillow and pulled out the piece of Ginny's scarf he kept. He held it superstitiously in his hand like a young child would hold a security blanket. On some deeply hidden level he felt that if he kept holding on to it Ginny would come back and all the monsters of doubt would go away.

He sighed after a moment and hid the cloth. He knew he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, so he put on his slippers and padded down the stairs to the common room. When he got there, the room wasn't as empty as he would have expected it to be. Harry sat in a high-backed chair, staring blankly out into the nothingness.

Ron sat down on the sofa near him, but he did not speak. They were silent together because they had the same loss. He wasn't sure what to say to Harry, and he didn't really want anyone talking to him either, not even Hermione. It had become a conspiracy of silence, and he was fine with that for the most part.

"Are we going to have practice today?" Ron finally asked aloud.

For the past two Saturdays there had not been any Quidditch practice for the Gryffindor team. Life went on even when some people were in mourning, and there was the fact that they needed a new Chaser to take Ginny's spot until she returned. Ron stubbornly reminded himself that she _would_ return.

"Full moon last night," Harry muttered.

The redhead sighed. "I know."

"Remus," the young wizard continued, "he promised to find her."

Ron wasn't sure how to react, so at first he didn't say anything. Eventually he asked again, "What about practice, Harry?"

"Oh, right," Potter replied limply. "Ginny would want that. She wouldn't want Hufflepuff to beat us."

"No, she wouldn't," her brother conferred. "I'll tell the rest of the team at breakfast."

Harry nodded at Ron's offer.

"Make sure you get something to eat this morning," he admonished. "We can't have our captain fall off his broom because he's exhausted and malnourished."

"I'll be fine, Ron," Harry said testily, his voice growing dangerously softer as opposed to two years previous when the slightest provocation caused him to go into shouting matches.

Weasley gave his friend an odd look but let it pass. He then excused himself to take a morning shower. He walked to it with the hopes that maybe today would get the news they've been waiting to hear.

###

Nymphadora Tonks sat at the kitchen table in the Order Headquarters with a crochet hook in one hand and a skein of variegated yarn in her lap. She usually preferred more physical activities like a solid game of Quidditch, but she was too nervous to get on a broom. Considering her clumsy tendencies, she would more than likely fall off the broom if she tried it right now. She had known she wasn't going to sleep well after leaving Remus, so she didn't even try. Instead, she tried to distract herself by making a scarf. She told herself that she could give it to Ginny for Christmas when she came back.

For Tonks, the repetition involved in crocheting was calming, though, and it helped her not count the minutes ticking into hours, which was exactly what she wanted to do. Her mantra was to make one more row and then another row after that. By the time she was done, it the sun would be up, and she could go retrieve Lupin from his exercise in futility.

She was trying not to mentally berate herself. The typical questions were running through her mind. Why had she let him go? Why didn't she bring him back to the Headquarters? She ended up with the same answers no matter how she looked at it. Lupin would have done exactly what he wanted to do with or without her. Short of cursing him, she could not have stopped him.

Then she thought about her next dilemma. She could try to Apparate to where she'd left him and then come back, hoping Alastor and Kingsley would be none the wiser, or she could wait for the other two Aurors. They had promised a speedy return, but that did not mean as early as sunrise. When she looked up from her work, she noticed that it was the proverbial time of day that was darkest before the dawn. The sun would be up soon, and she would go find Lupin whether or not Kingsley and Moody had returned from Wales.

Tonks was cleaning up her craft from the table when the tall black Auror walked silently into the room. She stood and gave him in inscrutable look that didn't show the tumult inside her while Alastor thumped around the corner.

"Nice scarf," he noted gruffly as he made his way to the cupboard where the tea supplies were. He still didn't trust others except for occasionally Molly Weasley to make his food or drink, so he often prepared it himself.

Kingsley sat at the table and asked, "Is Remus asleep?"

"I wouldn't know," she answered evasively at first.

Moody stopped with his tea preparation. "Where is he, Dora?"

She turned and looked over her shoulder guiltily. "He isn't here, and we need to go get him."

"Where is he?" Shacklebolt repeated with a sense of growing urgency.

Tonks opened her mouth several times to begin, but it took her a moment to say anything. When she spoke, it was very slowly, and the fingers of her hands were splayed as if to still her thoughts.

"He believed that he had found Ginny, and he threatened to go get her without my help. I went with him to make sure he was okay, but before we could return, it was too close to moonrise. I had to leave him in the forest."

"You left a grown werewolf in a forest where there could be people? How could you be so reckless?" Moody demanded to know.

Tonks retorted, "There were no people there. I guarantee you that."

At the same time she spoke, Kingsley said, "But he should have been okay. He had his potion."

She turned her gaze away from Moody to her other friend. "No, he didn't. It seems our Remus has not been taking his potion."

"This is worse than we thought," Kingsley concluded gravely.

"He insisted vehemently that he had found Ginny, and he asked me to bring you both back with me to help him. I was going to go alone," she admitted shyly, "if you two had not returned as quickly as you did."

"We have to go immediately," Moody said as he looked at his empty teacup. "Dora, lass, can you take us to where you left him?"

Tonks closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "Yes, of course, but there is no guarantee he will still be there."

"It's a start. And his wand?" Alastor asked.

"There with him. He undressed in the forest, and I left without taking anything with me."

Kingsley snorted at the mention of Remus undressing, but the older Auror had a much different reaction. "That stupid man! He should know better than to leave a wand around where anyone could find it."

"I told you," Tonks said. "There was no one else there. Ginny's not there, either, no matter what Lupin says. I don't want to say it, but the truth is that it's futile."

"Let's stop talking about it and go," Shacklebolt said, rising from the table. Tonks and Moody both agreed and walked out of the room with him.

###

The starting point that Tonks used was not far from where she had left Lupin the night before. At least she had enough of her senses to Apparate to the location instead of traipsing through the forest acreage as she had previously done. Instantly, she took her wand out and positioned it defensively in front of her in case anything should happen.

"Remus, are you here?" she hissed as the other men came beside her.

The sound in the forest was deceptively quiet.

"If you can see through trees, old man, we might need you to look for him," Kingsley tried to joke.

Moody let it pass and surveyed the area quickly. With his wand he tested the wards. "There are definitely layers of magic here, but no visible signs of humans…"

"I _told_ you," Tonks said sharply.

"Yes, you did," he said as he turned to look at her, "but we all know that just because we can't see something doesn't mean it's not there. Don't be deceived by what you can't see."

Tonks pursed her lips and then did a complicated spell that magnified the heat patterns in the area. Besides their own human forms, they could only see animal shapes. "Satisfied?"

"No," Moody replied much to her surprise. "That's good magic, Dora, but nothing in the heat signatures resembles Lupin."

"That's why we have to look for him," Kingsley said, restating their purpose in the forest.

"Let's split up," Tonks suggested in part because she wanted to get away from the men who were starting to get on her nerves. "I'll take this section," she indicated with a wave of her wand, "and you two divide the rest between you."

She walked away before they could question her. Moody watched her as she went with his jaw firmly set. He shook his head and then gave his attention to Kingsley.

"I'll go that way. There seems to be a high concentration of magic there in the wards. I'll send up a flare with my wand if I find anything."

The taller Auror took his wand smoothly from his robe sleeve and went to work in the section that remained.

###

As the light of the morning continued to grow, the feeling of tension that had been inside Tonks wound tighter and tighter. She felt all alone in the forest because her two companions, even Moody with his wooden leg, were stealthy. She only heard the sounds she was making but nothing that could indicate Remus was around. She was hoping he was somewhere asleep after being awake all night.

She called out his name and did a sweeping motion with her wand. Tonks had charmed it to glow with a red light when she was pointing it in the right direction. She had done this for several minutes without obvious result, but she finally noticed that when she pointed her wand to her far right the tip began to pinken. Testing the magic again, she swept the wand away to the opposite direction, and the color was no longer there.

Being excited but cautious, Tonks moved her wand back to her right, and it still showed a pink color. Turning more, she found the place where it was definitely red. Smiling softly to herself, she walked straight ahead through the underbrush. When she had gone about ten yards, she saw the first true signs that Remus had been in the forest.

The first thing she noticed was that his wand was broken in two pieces and his already tatty clothing was shredded almost beyond recognition. Remus himself was not there. Then she saw that on the ground were several droplets of blood that seemed to lead away diagonally to her left. Tonks scooped up his things and continued her search, using the blood path and her lighted wand as a guide.

As she followed the blood trail, the Auror become aware of the fact that the forest was eerily quiet. While it had not been noisy when she entered, the sound level had dropped until the perception was almost deafening to her senses that were already on edge. Her breath started rasping in her throat, and then she stepped on a twig, causing Tonks to jump back from it as if she'd been attacked by a snake. Suddenly, she let out an unchecked shriek of terror, and she fell to her knees sobbing.

The sound of Tonks's unmistakable cry was a warning more powerful than a shower of sparks from the tip of a wand. Both men went running in her direction. Kingsley reached her first with Alastor coming behind a few short minutes later.

Moody heard the woman babbling mostly incoherently, but as he arrived, one thing was strikingly distinct. "No, Remus, no!"

He had his wand drawn and rounded Shacklebolt's side. The other man had been standing still, not showing any outward displays of emotion at all. Then Moody noticed what both his companions were looking at. A dead and mangled werewolf was on the ground two feet in front of Dora.

The animal—he didn't dare call it a human in that form—had been completely gutted with most of his viscera removed. The pelt of the creature where there were no bloodstains was the same tawny color as Lupin's. As another indicator of his identity, there were scraps of clothing surrounding him that matched the fabric that Tonks held feebly in her hands.

Kingsley finally looked away and covered his mouth with his hand as if he were fighting back a wave of nausea.

"We have to tell Dumbledore," Tonks said to them both as she looked at them with tears streaming quietly down her face. "And Harry," she whispered somberly.

Moody looked at her and held out his hand, "Give me those, Dora."

When she relinquished Lupin's broken wand and the rest of the remains of clothing, Moody used a transfiguring charm to make the cloth into a satchel big enough to hold the body of the werewolf. Catching his intention, Shacklebolt levitated the werewolf and deposited him inside. Tonks finished the teamwork by magically erasing the evidence that had been there.

With heavy hearts they Apparated to Hogsmeade so they could go to Hogwarts and tell Dumbledore the news.

###

The Gryffindor Quidditch team had a successful practice, and they did find a replacement player to use until Ginny came back to take her Chaser position. Things were starting to look up, and on a high note Harry sent the team to the showers. That sense of rightness was short lived because Professor McGonagall and Hermione Granger were waiting on the ground for Harry and Ron when they touched down with their brooms.

"Hermione," Ron greeted with a goofy grin that lighted his entire face, "did you see that last save I did? I think we have a good Chaser until Ginny gets back. Sure gave me a workout!"

"It was great, Ronald," she said with no enthusiasm in her words.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, I need to see you both in the Headmaster's office," McGonagall said with no hint about what was going to happen.

"I've been practicing with the team, Professor," Harry answered in case she was concerned about the Quidditch performance.

"I hope this isn't about the NEWTs," Ron complained. "Maybe it's about Ginny, right Harry?"

"Not directly," McGonagall said in clipped tones. She walked ahead of them with her posture ramrod straight. Harry was staring at her back while Ron was trying to pump Hermione for information.

"What's going on?" he said as he looked at her worried face.

"I don't know," she replied honestly, "but one of the prefects saw Tonks, Shacklebolt and Moody enter the school grounds from Hogsmeade."

"It's about Ginny," Harry said as a statement of the obvious.

"But she said it wasn't," Ron said, vainly trying to hide the note of optimism in his voice. He wanted news of Ginny, but only if it was good news.

"It must be important if she has to tell us in the Headmaster's office," Hermione said. She slid her small hand into Ron's larger one.

The three of them let the conversation cease while they followed their Head of House to Dumbledore's office. McGonagall gave the password, and the quartet went inside to meet four people already inside the room. Hermione had been right that the Aurors were at the school.

Immediately, Ron started coughing. "What is that horrible smell?"

"Mr. Weasley, Potter, Miss Granger," Albus Dumbledore said with a nod of acknowledgement. "I must apologize for the odor, but I have a purpose for allowing it. We have news of a very serious nature to tell you in the strictest of confidences."

His words were calm and formal. The man himself seemed very composed except for the fact that he was manipulating a small figurine in his fingertips. It looked like a pewter werewolf that would be placed on a strategy board when moving around theaters of battle. There were several other small figurines in front of him that represented other Order members.

"It's Remus," Harry said in quiet realization.

No one confirmed or denied Potter's speculation. Meanwhile, Hermione was looking around the room noticing that all the portraits were paying attention. At the same time, Ron had followed the lead of his nose and noticed that Moody had a huge bag at his feet with something heavy inside.

"This will not be pleasant, but we feel that this is important for you all to know," Dumbledore said with his voice sounding raspy. "We can not keep you from growing up, and we can not hide this fact from you."

The seventh years were looking at the five order members in consternation. Besides the Headmaster's preamble, they didn't seem inclined to speak. Tonks, who was usually lively in any situation, was reserved. The usually bright colors she used to ornament herself were subdued, while Moody and even Shacklebolt seemed battle-fatigued. Finally, Tonks stepped forward with sadness showing on her heart-shaped face.

"There is no kind way to tell you, but Remus is dead," she said softly. Though she had bravely looked into each of their eyes as she told them, her face turned down when she was done.

"That's not funny," Harry hissed.

"I'm not… joking," she finished saying after a pause for her to swallow her tears.

"How did this happen?" the normally quick Hermione asked.

"Was he on assignment for the Order?" Ron asked at almost the same time as Hermione.

Harry remained quiet but stared at Tonks with such intensity as if to burn her with lasers from his eyes.

The woman stood alone away from the two men. She was reluctant to speak, but at this point, Kingsley took up the tale.

"Moody and I returned from a successful mission to Wales to find that he had gone in search of Miss Weasley. We followed him to his last known location, and we found…"

"…A dead werewolf in Lupin's clothing," Moody said as he moved beside Tonks. He swung the bag to sit in front of them.

"You mean that smell is Remus?" Ron asked without censure.

Hermione elbowed him sharply in the ribs, and he blushed when he realized how crass his question sounded.

"Yes," Tonks answered quietly. In support, Moody gently placed his fingers at her elbow, and she covered them softly with the fingers of her opposite hand.

"I don't believe you," Harry finally spoke up. "This has to be a mistake!"

McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged looks with each other. They had heard the news before the Aurors told the three young Gryffindors. Denial was one of the first reactions to loss.

"What about you?" Harry said specifically to Tonks. "Were you with him when he died?"

"No, I…" she began.

"Exactly. You didn't _see_ him die!" Harry challenged. "You don't _know_ that it's Remus. You just think it is. You're guessing. There are _other_ werewolves."

Tonks bristled against Harry's accusation and denial. "Yes, there are, but not in that forest where we found him, no matter who much you don't want to believe us!"

"Perhaps, I can help," Dumbledore said in calm mediation. "Minerva, do retrieve Severus and a flask of hemo-typing potion, please, so that we can test the remains."

"Yes, sir," she said in compliance as she went to find the Potions Master.

Albus flicked his wand to direct the animal remains to a worktable beside his desk while the others waited with various amounts of tension and unbelief. Moments later, Snape came striding into the Headmaster's office with two potions flasks firmly clutched in his hands.

"Hideous," was the man's mordant remark. He schooled his features to not show anything else.

"Thank you, Severus," the Headmaster replied as he took the corked vials.

Acting as an assistant, Snape waited while Dumbledore opened one opaque bottle and let a few of the red drops from inside fall on a silver saucer to the side of the animal. The two men traded bottles, and the older man dropped a few drops on the werewolf carcass and then on the silver plate where the red drops had been.

After the initial preparation, Dumbledore waved his wand and spoke an elaborate incantation. A mist started to rise from both places and mingle in the neutral space in between. Within moments, ghostly transparent image of Remus Lupin formed itself clearly in the smoky mist.

Dumbledore put down his hands and looked at the gathered group over the rim of his half-moon glasses. "The potion does not lie. As you all can see, this is an exact match with the sample we have of Lupin's blood."

He tiredly sat down at his desk and looked at people gathered in his office, all coming to terms in their own way with the definite loss of werewolf.

Tonks, who been weeping into Moody's shoulder, suggested, "We need to make a memorial for him. It's the right thing to do."

"What do you think, Harry?" McGonagall asked him because the werewolf had been the last tie to his parents.

He glowered in response. "Why should it matter what _I_ think? Remus was his own man. Memorials don't bring the people we love back!"

"No, they don't," Dumbledore intoned as he stood back up and addressed everyone in the room. "It helps us honor those who have left us, and Remus Lupin deserves great honor. I have known few men full of such humanity and humility."

He dismissed the people from his office with a promise for something in the near future to mark Lupin's passing. The two professors walked ahead of the students who were huddled together. Ron had his arm around Hermione's shoulder in comfort, though both he and Harry looked shell-shocked. The trio of Aurors followed the students with Tonks looking as close to pale and colorless as anyone had ever seen her. She was holding on to Moody's arm for dear life as if to never let him go, and Kingsley rested his hand on her shoulder as they walked out.

Albus Dumbledore stayed in his office alone with the portraits. Not one spoke to him as he reached his long fingers across his desk to where he had laid the pewter werewolf. He turned it over in his fingers for several minutes and then silently placed it in a cabinet with other figurines that represented casualties lost in the War.

"Goodbye, my dear boy," he whispered as he closed his moistened eyes.

On his perch, Fawkes concluded the ritual with a few mournful notes for brave friends long passed.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric used for this chapter is from "Mansion in the Slums" performed by Crowded House on the album _Temple of Low Men_.


	14. The Mark of the Werewolf

**CHAPTER 14:  
The Mark of the Werewolf**

_I believe in doing things backwards.  
Take heed. Start doing things in reverse.  
_~Neil Finn

Remus was made a werewolf through a bite, not born as one, though he remembered very little of the time when he wasn't one. He felt the bite again, as he had when he was a young boy, but something about it was different this time. His confused and pain-addled mind couldn't pinpoint what it was.

He had been a boy, happy as any other child with a loving family. He had a twin brother who died about six weeks after having also been bitten by the werewolf. Remus, on the other hand, had survived, but only barely.

Both boys had been playing in the forest one late afternoon near the evening time. They had play wands and were practicing dueling as small boys are wont to do.

"I've got you!" Remus remembered yelling to his brother and then running deeper into the forest after that so he would give him chase.

He ran laughing into the forest without thinking that during their play twilight had come. The moon was bright, and he could see very well.

At first he heard the laughter of his brother following him, and then it was silent. Suddenly, a horrible scream rent the silence of the forest. Remus recognized the voice right away, and he was frozen in fear.

"REMUS!" the boy had yelled and repeated again until his voice was strangled.

Not knowing what to do, he ran away as fast as he could. The twigs of the trees slapped him in the face as he ran, mocking his fear. He kept running as everything around him was beating him and holding him back. His own little boy body stumbled and fell, and he could not move. As he'd fallen, his foot had gotten caught in some of the tree roots. He cried and cried out for his brother and for his pain.

The werewolf found him there, easy game for him to consume. The blood of the other Lupin boy was already dripping from his maw, and the werewolf was ready for the blood and flesh of another. The werewolf found his leg and bit down hard on the thick calf muscle while Remus tried in vain to fight him. Eventually, the little boy passed out from the trauma, and the werewolf left him after having become bored with the tiny human.

The little boy wasn't even sure he had a concept of being alive after that except that his parents found him the next day. When he started to speak, he asked for his brother. "Shh! We've got you," his father had said, trying to hide the sound of worry in his voice.

When he looked over to his mother, he saw her cradling the other boy's broken body in her arms. He looked unreal and horribly pale, but he was there. Remus slipped back into sleep as he and his brother were carried home.

The month after that first full moon was full of visits to healers, potions masters, curse breakers, and any other person that could be of help to the two Lupins. Their parents tried to find help in many ways and always seeking it as discreetly as possible. It was to no avail because when the full moon came again, both had become werewolves.

The pain had been horrible. The boy didn't know what to do and didn't know why it was happening to him. It hadn't been a comfort to know that his brother was also going through the same physical change. The misery he felt was intense, fearful and incredibly isolating. Both parents didn't come near their boys because they simply did not know what to do to help them. Somehow, to the relief of all, both boys had returned to their human likeness after the night was over.

Lupin's brother got progressively sicker from the first full moon change. The boy had received the worse of the damage from the initial bite and had never come close to anything resembling a recovery. The transformation had been too much for him, and he slipped deeper and deeper into illness. About two weeks after the full moon, he died beside Remus, who had been hugging his brother close to him for mutual comfort.

The event was hushed, and all evidence of the boy's his existence was expediently removed. His brother's name was never spoken again in the Lupin household, an unnamed hurt that Remus carried with him for a very long time. He missed him, and the child that Remus was could not express the anger at having to forget his brother as if he had never existed. Eventually almost all of the memories of his brother passed from him along with his memories of what it was to be a human being all the days of the month, even on the ones with a full moon.

His parents never had other children, and it was because of Remus. He interrupted them arguing one time and heard his mother say to his father, "What if he bites the baby?" The boy turned and fled from his parents until he was found hiding under the bed hours later by his father.

These sensations he was feeling weren't quite right enough to be a perfect memory of his bite. He had been bitten in his leg. If he was flashing back to that time, why was it that his shoulder was hurting right now? The pain he felt was more intense than the cruelest memory because they had faded. It didn't make any sense at all to the animal mind or to Lupin's human mind that was sublimated far beneath it.

###

"Have they woken up yet?" Jonathan asked as he walked briskly into his playroom.

He had his men move the girl and the werewolf inside after the pair had been captured. Both were wrapped in restraining chains. They were being guarded, but so far nothing had happened.

"Nothing yet, just small movements," one man said as he bowed his head before leaving.

Frank came in to take his place and talk to other wizard. "What will you do with him now that you have him?"

"I'm still deciding my options. Imagination is my only limit," he replied with a smile.

Frank nodded, and looked at the sleeping pair. They had been under for more than twelve hours without being subjected to sleeping potions or lethargy spells. When he thought he would lose his senses to boredom, the figures on the floor began to slowly move as they neared consciousness.

"Oh, this is interesting. Look how he holds her close to him," Moss pointed out as Remus wrapped his body tighter around Ginny's. "Quite the possessive gesture. It's nice to see that he still has some of the instincts of a man."

"Not _all_ men want to lie with that girl," Frank said with distaste. He'd seen her plenty in the last two weeks, and he wasn't personally interested in her whatsoever.

Speaking to someone else, Jonathan ordered, "Get her out of here. When he wakes up, I want to speak to the werewolf alone."

Ginny's limp body was pulled from Lupin's embrace. Her mind was muddled in a complete stupor. She fought against the pull and opened her heavy-lidded eyes to see Remus on the floor. He opened his eyes and instinctively reached out to her, but soon her awareness of him faded into black. She was thrown unceremoniously back into her cell.

After she had been removed, Jonathan and Frank waited for Remus to wake up. He'd fallen out of wakefulness after Ginny was yanked from him. He'd seen her brown eyes and knew with satisfaction that she was the one he was meant to find. Then she was gone, and it had only been a waking dream.

In another moment, Lupin's eyes awoke again to see blurry images. A man with black hair was standing over him, but his face was hidden. As he came into stronger focus, Remus noticed that he was handsome in a way that reminded him of someone special.

"Sirius?" he said, probing the haze.

"No," Moss said simply as he bent down closer to Remus. He rubbed his gloved fingers over the werewolf's temple. Then Moss slapped his face to get wakeful attention.

"You had a hard night last night. I am sure you're exhausted from running through the forest. You also have a nasty silver arrow wound. I aimed it myself, and I think I did a rather nice job," Jonathan began in his friendly, familiar-seeming prattle.

Remus blinked incoherently at him and then looked at his left shoulder where he was still impaled. He realized that this man who had captured him when he was a werewolf had wanted him to see the full extent of damage that had been done and that he had been the one to hurt him. As a power play, it was an effective one.

"And now it's time to get it out," his captor said with a soft smile.

Jonathan snapped his fingers, and Frank approached with a molten hot fire poker.

"What are you doing?" Remus asked dryly as he eyed the implement.

"Cauterizing your wound the old-fashioned Muggle way, of course." He took the poker from Frank and then blew it, making the orange tip of it light up. Satisfied, Moss threw a strap of leather to the man working with him. "Bind him, Frank."

Frank took the leather strap with pleasure and tied it around Lupin's mouth, shoving it between his teeth. While Remus might have under different instances refused to be gagged, he knew what was coming. It was almost a kindness to give him something to bite.

"Break the arrow," Moss instructed to Frank after the first task had been complete.

The minion first put both hands on the shaft, and then he broke it deftly. Remus was struggling against them both in pain as the arrow was next forced the rest of the way out of his chest. He bit down hard on the leather as waves of pain took over his body. It was nothing to the sensation of the poker being pressed to the arrow's entrance point in Lupin's back. He had no frame of reference for it except that it was worse than Cruciatus, and he had seen Ginny endure this same torture from several people when she had first been taken.

"I don't think that was hot enough," Moss assessed. "It cooled while we were getting the arrow out of you. I'm so sorry for my mistake, but I'll remedy that on the other side."

He gave the poker again to Frank to reheat. This time when it came at him in all its molten glory, Remus could see the danger. He realized that had been Jonathan's tactic all along.

"Good boy!" he announced happily as he took the leather piece out of his mouth. "You took that quite well. I have such high hopes for us getting to know each other. Now it's time for the fun to start."

Moss tossed a bottle of oil to Frank who deftly caught it. He walked with enthusiasm behind Remus to start applying it to his back.

Remus did not ask Jonathan this time what he was doing. Sometimes it was better not to know. Instead, he tried to keep his eyes on Frank.

"I've never met a werewolf before, but I have had other guests visit me," he shared. "I know that we get better results from people with soft skin, but that might not apply to you since you are a werewolf. I am told your kind have fast healing properties. I shall endeavor to find out if it is indeed true."

At the end of his speech, he looked pleased with himself. During the whole time Jonathan spoke, Frank was busy rubbing the oil into Lupin's naked back. While the man had a professional veneer, he seemed to be deriving enough personal pleasure out of it to make Moss question him.

"Frank?"

"Yes, Mr. Moss?"

"Is there," he sharply emphasized the first two words as he spoke, "something I should know?"

"No, sir." Frank had a definite look of guilt on his face.

"Good. It's time to get your hands off the werewolf." Moss paused impatiently. "Now!"

Frank reluctantly withdrew his hands from Remus and moved to stand behind Jonathan. From his position hidden behind Moss, he stared intently at the captured werewolf while Moss continued to speak to him.

"So to welcome you to the family, as it were, I am going to invite you to play. Rather, we'll play with you and do anything we want, and you have no choice but to accept." He made it sound as if it were a logical course of action.

"For starters, let me show you what this is. This," he said as he brought his torture implement right in front of Lupin's eyes, "is a cat-o-nine tails. These braids are human hair I'd taken from women and girls I once had the delight of meeting." Moss looked very pleased with himself.

"At the end of these braids, you will notice lead sinkers. They are heavy, and they will dig deep into any flesh, even yours, werewolf." He looked at Remus ponderingly. "This could become tedious. Do you have a name?"

Jonathan tapped his foot impatiently after it became clear that Remus wouldn't answer. "Well? Don't keep us in suspense!"

When Remus continued to be silent, Moss finished in annoyance, "Fine. It's time to torture you anyway. Maybe I'll be able to beat it out of you."

Jonathan rolled up his shirtsleeves and caressed the braids in the implement. "Hoist him up," he instructed Frank.

Remus had already been bound in chains, so Frank used a pulley to connect another chain to the restraints on his arms and lift him up off the floor. Once in place there, his ankles were secured by shackles and the chains bolted down. He hung in the middle of the room in the shape of a human X, his body vulnerable to any attack Moss might give.

When the preparation was done, Moss began his work with a smile on his face and a song in his heart. Jonathan spoke a children's counting rhyme several times as he beat Remus with the cat-o-nine tails.

"_One, two! Buckle my shoe."_

On the odd numbers, he wound up to strike. With every even number he lodged the metal in Lupin's back and drug it through the flesh as he spoke the rest of the chant. Moss fell into the rhythmic trance of the simple rhyme while Lupin's flesh became broken and bloody.

"_Three, four! Shut the door!"_

Trails of blood dripped from Lupin's body and met in a small river on the floor.

"_Five, six! Pick up sticks!"_

Jonathan continued to flog him and sing with unfailing energy. He stopped later when he decided to change his white shirt, which had become stained from the occasional blood splatter.

"Lower him," Moss instructed Frank.

Remus was lowered directly into the pool of his own blood that had begun to congeal into a stinky, sticky mess.

"I do believe it's time for tea. Have a lovely rest of your afternoon. I will return later."

"You are insane," Remus spat from his chained position.

"I am _not_ insane!" He looked indignant and pounded the flat palm of his hand with his fist for emphasis. "I am amoral. Get it right, will you? You know, just once I would like to meet someone who was intelligent enough to know the difference. Is that too much to ask?"

Remus wasn't about to argue the point with someone who had him captive, but if a person knew enough to call himself amoral, he probably wasn't. He had Ginny, and right now that was more important to Lupin than mind games or semantic arguments.

###

Ginny rolled over on to her right side and whimpered in pain. Automatically she lifted her hand to her shoulder, and she touched skin that was raw and tender. Slowly the realization shifted into her consciousness. Remus had bitten her.

She sighed in the darkness at the twists and turns Fate was playing on her life. If she would ever escape this hell, she would become a werewolf just like him. Would her father still love her if she was a werewolf? Would Harry? A tear trickled down her nose and fell into the dirty straw underneath her.

She touched the small golden pendant at her throat, amazed that she still had it since Jonathan had taken away everything else she owned. It had been a father's gift to his only little girl. Ginny remembered that as a five year old child she wandered into his Muggle workshop one day. He had been playing with his plugs in fascination. They were interesting to her only because they were important to her daddy. She stayed with Arthur to share his special world with him.

When she turned six years old, her father gave her one of his precious plugs. He Transfigured it into gold and minimized it so she could wear it on a necklace. Though she had birthday festivities with the rest of the family, this was done with special honor from father to daughter in the workshop away from eyes of others who wouldn't understand. She wore the necklace from that day forward even when she got older and no longer spent time secreted away with him.

"…Werewolf," she whispered again in anguish.

She cared for Remus because he was a friend, but in none of her dreams of her future did she wish to become a werewolf. She felt selfish and petty for admitting it, even a little guilty because she should be happy to have a friend like Remus. She wondered if this was divine retribution for her wayward thoughts.

A short time later she heard a shuffling of feet as Robert came to her cell with the evening's meal offering. It was split pea soup, something that would normally be welcomed on a cold winter night. Instead, Ginny didn't even want to try to look at it.

He placed the tray on the floor near her but maintained his safe distance. Instead of leaving quickly he stared at her. "Are you hurt?" he finally asked her.

Jonathan had done nothing kind to her, so being hurt was her normal state of things. Ginny realized he meant her shoulder wound from Remus. "Yes," she said with a dry cough.

The butler's eyes widened in true surprise. He hadn't expected Ginny's voice to be restored to her. He pulled out his wand and approached her with caution. She sucked in her breath, fully expecting him to curse her again with Silencio. Rather than doing that, he muttered a healing charm for her shoulder.

"I know of Jonathan's non-scarification spell, but that does not guarantee the wounds underneath the scars will properly heal. That should help," he said with a small nod as he backed away.

Almost of their own volition, Ginny's fingers reached for her shoulder. "Thank you," she mouthed to Robert before he left the room with a nod.

When he was gone as quickly as he had come, Ginny's thoughts returned to the fact that she might be changing into a werewolf. She took some deep breaths to calm herself, and then she sipped the soup she had been given. While she ate, she tried to think of nothing at all, especially the fact that she was still caged like the beast she would most likely become.

In confirmation of her fears, her stomach roiled against her. What little she had inside her came out of her mouth onto the floor. She coughed as she heaved. Then her skin felt clammy as she started sweating.

_Is this how it feels?_, she thought to herself as she took comfort on the coldness of the stones underneath the straw. Then she guessed why she could mentally talk to Remus. She was nothing but a beast herself.

She realized as she started to drift away to sleep that she had not tried to talk to him since she woke up. She felt awash in guilt that she had not tried to find out if he was okay. Tentatively she reached out.

At first, she thought she felt nothing, and then she realized she felt a subtle heat. It came from the burning of damaged muscles. He was near her somewhere in the manor, and that was a small bit of comfort.

Rubbing her fingers on the stone in meditation, Ginny thought to the werewolf. She nudged and tried to reach into him. He refused to respond immediately, but it helped her to think about something else besides herself.

At last, he turned his attention to her. §Ginny,§ he sent in a wry tone of thought, §we're here.§

§Yes, we are,§ she answered in a way that could have been laughing at the irony of it all. When he said he'd come to rescue her, she wanted so much to be home. She wasn't even truly sure what day it was any more.

§What has he done to you?§ she asked with cautious pauses. She already knew Jonathan's brand of play more than she would have liked.

§Oh, the normal,§ he answered in an attempt at humor. §He introduced me to the family and showed me the china patterns. I think we're dating now.§

His answer was so unexpected that she just went silent. It was enough for the moment to know that he was with her. She could find soon if he had help on the way. Of course, that made her think to what might happen when her old friends found her. She wouldn't be the same Ginny they used to know, and not simply because she'd been tortured. She knew from the depths of her soul that she had been changed and would never be the same.

She hid her thoughts, but the matter ate away at her reserve. Finally, when she was slipping once again into exhaustion, she reached across the gap like a child who calls out to her parents before falling asleep.

§Remus?§

It took him a long time to answer. He was trying to think of anything but his own pain, and it was not working. He focused again on the sound of her mental voice as something that was outside himself. He concentrated on her and where she was as if he could remove his spirit from his body and fly to her.

When he got his thoughts to her this time, he could tell that something was wrong. §What is it?§ he asked with guarded concern.

He could feel her hesitate, so he was alert when she asked her next question. §What does it feel like to be a werewolf?§

The question shocked him, but not because it was impudent or controversial. When they were boys before the other Marauders learned to be Animagi, Sirius had asked him the exact same question.

§It… hurts. Sometimes I don't remember myself in the morning or how I've done the things I've done. I used to hurt myself because there was so much pain, and I always worry about hurting someone else,§ he explained as if it was a prepared answer because he had been asked so many times.

Silence filled the span of thought until finally he questioned, §Why did you ask me, Ginny?§

She answered him in a thought that could have been a whisper if it had been spoken. §You bit me.§

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric used for this chapter is from "Love You Til the Day I Die" performed by Crowded House on the album _Crowded House_.

I know that Remus is not a twin in canon. This is another idea that I liked from the time we had more room to speculate on such things, so I kept it in this story.


	15. Rites of Passage

**CHAPTER 15:  
Rites of Passage**

_It's real life; it's all true  
You know how I'll miss you  
In quiet moments I'll come undone  
_~Neil Finn

The sounds of voices buzzed in his ear like a mosquito. The lightly sleeping Remus wanted to swat it away from him, but one thing brought him to immediate wakefulness. He heard one of the men, obviously a servant of some sort as opposed to the thugs and other miscreants in the place, mention "the girl." He knew for certain that meant Ginny.

"She still has a fever, sir," the man said at the end of the hallway near Lupin's cell. "It hasn't gone down at all since she was bitten."

"Robert," Moss said with a deliberate display of patience, "it is of no importance to me if she's sick. I can still have my fun with her anyway."

_So that's his name_, Remus thought in passing as he scrambled closer to the door so he could hear better. Becoming a werewolf had actually enhanced his hearing, but he still had very human emotional reactions. He just didn't want to take any chances of missing any vital information.

"Yes, sir, that's true, but…"

Jonathan looked at his finely gloved hands, and then quickly snapped his eyes up to look at his butler. "But what? What has you so bothered that you feel like interrupting a lovely day such as this?"

"Just to point out to you the fact that should be obvious by now. Sir," he amended to mask his urgency. "That girl was bitten by a werewolf, and she may become one herself if she doesn't die. Her body has gone into a high fever trying to fight off the effects of the bite."

"I know that," Jonathan said in a tone that really meant, _"You're an idiot."_

"Humans can have fevers for many days, but no human can survive a fever this high for this long! I have no idea what she is, but she should be dead by now, Jonathan. If she's not a werewolf, we've got something much more dangerous on our hands that you might not be able to control."

He shook his head in peeved annoyance. "She's just a forgettable little student who was easily taken by my men. She hasn't been missed. Besides the striking hair, there is nothing at all remarkable about her."

"Sir, you have taken my advice before, and I want you to seriously consider it now," Robert pleaded.

"You are trying my patience, man," he said with eyes narrowed.

"Be that as it may, I think you should advance the work on your Full Moonlight Spell. If you get it working, we won't have to wait the three weeks until the next full moon to discover what she is. It's better to be prepared," he concluded.

Jonathan arched on of his eyebrows in consideration. "Yes, the Full Moonlight Spell would be very good to test right now. I have a known werewolf in my care, maybe two," he said with a show of fingers to include Ginny.

"And you will know whether she is one of them or not, though I don't think she is," Robert said as he looked away.

"Because of her fever?" Moss mocked back.

"Yes, exactly. She should not be alive right now. No human being can live like that. If you were being prudent, you would be worrying as well."

"She could be a Heliopath," Moss quipped, "except we only read about those in the _Quibbler_."

Robert looked at his shoes and shook his head. "No, sir. Heliopaths cast fire with wands. They don't have it burning inside them."

"You worry too much," he said as he started to walk down the hallway. "One of the first rules of nature is that all fires eventually go out. Everything has an end, Robert."

"Yes, sir," the butler answered with a derisive eye roll behind his boss's back.

"But I like your idea of using the Full Moonlight Spell. We'll begin testing it on our friend, Mr. Werewolf, very soon," Jonathan said as he stood in front of Lupin's cell.

Remus had backed away from the door so it would not seem like he was listening. He huddled inconspicuously in hopes that his captor would walk on by to some other distraction.

"Hello," Jonathan said to Remus with interest as he entered the cell. "Cover me," he shot over his shoulder to Robert, who immediately took out his wand.

Jonathan crouched down before Lupin and studied Remus with an innocent look on his face. He then reached his gloved hand to the other man's cheek. The werewolf looked back impassively and didn't allow himself to flinch.

"We were going to meet under different circumstances today. It was to be the usual beating, torture and mayhem. I like doing that, you know," he said with a wide smile showing perfectly white teeth. "But you're in luck. I'll let you rest because I have a very special spell to use with you. We'll be seeing you very soon."

Jonathan stood up and tousled the werewolf's hair as if he were playing with a young child or worse, a puppy. Remus thought that ironic when he was about ten years older than the man in front of him. Then the man walked out of the cell to do whatever nefarious plans he had on his agenda for the day.

"Robert," Remus coughed out before the butler could leave.

The short hairs on the butler's neck stood up, and he faced the werewolf with extreme caution.

"What day is it?" Lupin asked with a tired expression on his face.

Still looking dumbstruck that he had initiated conversation, he quickly said "Thursday" before scurrying out of the cell.

After a few minutes had passed when Remus felt himself to be safely alone, he tried to think his way to Ginny. He nudged at the edge of her consciousness, but she wasn't responding. He knew she was there, but she was probably deep in a fevered sleep, the state she'd been in for days. She fell into it almost immediately after telling him that he had bitten her. She had moments of wakefulness, but they were rare. It was almost as if Ginny had shut herself down into a coma state.

Even though he could share his thoughts with her, it was a very lonely place in his mind as he pondered what he needed to do to help free them. Not much had changed in the activity of the days so far, and time was starting to blur. The babble between Jonathan and Robert was one of the few concrete pieces of information he'd gotten about Ginny's state since she was basically unable to share anything with him right now.

So it seemed that Moss had a Full Moonlight Spell. Remus had never heard of it, but making guesses from the conversation he overheard, he knew what it was likely to do. He, too, had a vested interest in learning the full extent his bite had on Ginny.

"I'll take care of you," he spoke out loud softly. That promise assumed the condition of them being free from this place. Whether or not that happened, he was responsible for the bite he gave her, and he would not leave her to bear it alone.

His thoughts momentarily left Ginny. Though nothing was certain in this place, he assumed that Jonathan would not quickly return after having made his threat. Remus closed his eyes and rested while he could.

###

The long robes swept the floor of the darkened room making a slight scratching sound, and the feet walked lightly in procession. Other than those noises and the sounds of fire consuming candlewicks, it was deathly still in the room where the witches and wizards had gathered. One by one as they passed their leader they touched the ends of their long tapers to his, lighting their individual candles. Then they found their places, forming a circle with him at the northern most point.

Albus Dumbledore looked out at the members of the Order of the Phoenix gathered solemnly before him in remembrance of their fallen comrade, Remus Lupin. He had chosen not to include the trio of Gryffindors in an effort to protect them. While they might have wished for and needed closure, it was safer for them to wait within the protected walls of Hogwarts.

The members of the Order stood with grim expressions on their faces, made even more solemn by the shadows cast from flickering candle light. Before speaking, Dumbledore looked to the assembled members. They had lost too many people to the war so that honor and remembrance ceremonies were short and to the heart of the matter.

"We have come to honor Remus Lupin, our fallen friend. The candles we hold represent his life. The flame burns for a finite time and then is extinguished, but while it burns, the world is a brighter place. Our lives have been touched by the flame that was Remus's life. If we remember, then he will never truly be gone from us."

At this point there was silence again in the circle of the Order. Dumbledore waved his wand, and a small pyre appeared in the midst of the mourners. At the top of the wood was not the body of the dead werewolf but the clothing and broken wand that had been found with his remains.

A witch to the left of Dumbledore stepped from the circle toward the pyre and knelt on one knee. In her hand she had an herb that she sprinkled on the remains.

"Mint for virtue," she said softly. "You were a good man, Remus Lupin. Strong."

She bowed her head making any personal goodbyes before standing to her feet. "We are the Order of the Phoenix. When one of us falls, another will rise."

The witch blew out the flame of her candle and blindly stepped backwards to her place in the circle.

To her left was a short middle-aged wizard who approached the pyre. "Edelweiss for courage," he said as he sprinkled his flower over the pyre. After a personal pause, he stood and repeated the words the witch had said. "We are the Order of the Phoenix. When one of us falls, another will rise."

The procession around the circle continued in like manner, each stepping forth from the circle and bringing a sacred herb or flower to sprinkle on the fire. Though the words spoke that they would rise like a phoenix, the candles representing Lupin's life were each blown out as the Order members said their own good-bye.

When finally it was Dumbledore's turn, he spoke again the one phrase that all of them had said for Remus and that they always said when they acknowledged the loss of one of their own. "We are the Order of the Phoenix. When one of us falls, another will rise."

At the blowing out of his candle, the room was put into complete darkness. No one moved as the old wizard stepped back to his place at the top of the circle. Then as leader he withdrew his wand from his robes and uttered one last incantation.

"_Incendio!"_

The pyre immediately burst into multi-colored flames as each of the herbs was burned. The faces stared emotionlessly at it until everything was consumed. At the completion of the burning, the circle broke into a line, unwinding like a coil that has been released with the assembled witches and wizards following Dumbledore out of the room.

###

It took Albus several blinks to adjust his eyes to the light in the room. Though he had just been watching a blaze, this wasn't the same. For a few moments, the others left him alone with his thoughts, but then they began to speak to each other.

"Are you _sure_ he's gone?" the witch known as Hestia Jones asked a wizard standing near her. Other similar sounds of disbelief had been heard from others participating in the memorial.

Glancing casually around the room, Dumbledore could see Moody standing with Tonks, who looked positively demure for this occasion with brown hair and hazel eyes. Shacklebolt was conversing with one of the other Unspeakables that he had managed to bring into the Order. He also noted that Arabella Figg was speaking civilly to Mundungus Fletcher on this occasion.

Unlike the others, Arthur Weasley stood alone, willing the Hogwarts Headmaster to see him. When the man's eyes lighted on him from behind the half-moon glasses, it was all the red haired wizard needed for encouragement. He strode toward the other man with clear purpose.

"Albus, do you have any news on Ginny?" Arthur asked with a desperate look in his eyes.

The question surprised him, so the older wizard began to make apologies and speak the normal words of placation. He then thought better of it as he knew that now was not the time for lies and false hopes. Dumbledore stopped and began to tell Arthur what they knew, or more accurately what they did not know.

Quickly, Alastor Moody and Nymphadora Tonks came to speak for him, though less gracefully than Dumbledore would have hoped.

"Arthur, we're so sorry about Ginny," Tonks said as she wiped her tear-stained face with a handkerchief.

"But what are you doing to find her?" he demanded. "It's been three weeks and my daughter is still gone!"

A few fresh tears came to her eyes as she sputtered excuses. "We're still watching and listening."

"That's it?" he asked angrily.

Moody placed his hand lightly at the small of Tonks's back in silent support, and then he spoke with unflinching directness to Ginny's father. "We don't know where she is, Arthur. The only one of us who really felt that he had a lead on her location and was certain that we could find her was Remus. He felt connected to the child for some reason."

"And he died trying to find her," Arthur said as he crossed his arms tightly in front of his chest.

"That's right, and any hopes of being able to find your daughter died with him," Moody said without subterfuge.

"No," Weasley said, shaking his head. "I can't believe that. I can't _allow_ myself to believe that! I will _not_ let this war tear my family apart."

"It's what war does," Dumbledore said in reflection of thoughts that had been in the minds of many of the Order.

"Ask your Molly," Moody pointed out. "She knows well about losing family to war."

"I will not let this happen," Arthur said in disgusted denial. "I can not give up hope. I have a daughter out there, and someone needs to find her!"

By this time, most of the mourners who had gathered were concentrating on the Weasley patriarch. Dumbledore was forced to make a show of cruelty.

"Do you think you are the only one who has lost someone in this war?"

"No," Arthur replied, again sounding offended to the core, "but none of them have been _my_ daughter."

He walked away from the group and Apparated home with heavy heart weighted down by no news of his daughter's whereabouts.

###

Remus.

The werewolf stirred from sleep. He had been beaten by the minions again instead of the moonlight spell that Jonathan had promised, but he knew that spell would come to him soon enough. He tried to rest and recover from his wounds only to hear his name bring him back to wakeful consciousness.

Maybe he wasn't hearing his name. No one else here knew it except for Ginny, and she was fighting battles of sickness. He could have dreamed of his name, or she could have. It was one of the side effects of the telepathy or her sickness, or perhaps even both. He "heard" Ginny's dreams.

All dreams were strange. It was the dreams of sick people that were worse. If he was not a werewolf with the beast as part of him, he might not have known how to sublimate the effects of the dreams that leaked into him. Some things, however, stayed in his memory, such as fleeting images of the ghost of Tom Riddle.

§Remus.§

And there she was. He sighed to himself in relief. It had been her after all who woke him up, not some unnamed phantom.

§I'm here, Ginny,§ he began with the awe of their communication still fresh in him. §Do you still have a fever?§

§A small one,§ she replied weakly, §but I think it's starting to go away. Was it like this for you?§

The question of whether or not she was a werewolf hung in the air again as it had so many times in his mind in the week since she'd been bitten. It took a while for Remus to answer, but when he did, he mentioned one of the things that almost no one knew about him.

§My brother and I were both very sick, Ginny, but not like you. Not that I remember, anyway.§

§You have a brother?§ she asked in awe.

As a professor, Lupin had not talked much about himself, and she had not been privileged to learn much more of him by way of her family's involvement with the Order. They tried too much to protect her, and now everything she learned about Remus, however small, was fascinating and new.

§Had,§ he stated. §He was also bitten, but he did not survive.§

§I'm sorry.§ Ginny paused and then asked a loaded question. §When did he die?§

§It was shortly after our first full moon. He just couldn't take it.§

§So, I might still die then,§ she commented.

§We all die eventually,§ he answered her with his usual sense of the morbid, §but some of us go sooner than others. If you're worried about becoming a werewolf, Ginny, it's okay. I can take it.§

§But I might not be,§ she thought back in a very quiet mental voice. §I like you, Remus, but I don't want to be a werewolf.§

With a sigh he opened his eyes and lightly banged his head against the wall of his cell. He knew what her feelings were before she stated them, and it wasn't because of their new found mind link. It was human to have a fear of the unknown, and Ginny was very human.

§There is no cure, so if you are, it can't be helped. There is something you should know, though. Robert seems to think you aren't a werewolf. We'll find out soon enough,§ he finished, not adding the qualifier "if we live through this."

In her own cell, Ginny rested her head on her am while she wiped away a stray tear with her free hand.

§But what about your friends? Did they have a hard time accepting you as a werewolf?§ she asked in hopes that he would tell her something comforting. Of course Harry, Ron and Hermione accepted Lupin as a werewolf; they hadn't known him as anything else. For Ginny, the situation would be very different.

§No,§ he replied with a smile of memory, §they thought it was one of the best things that could have ever happened. It was also the reason they became Animagi. We were always out for a good prank, you know.§

§No, I don't,§ Ginny thought with consternation. §Since when does Professor Lupin play pranks?§

§Since I was actually a boy once with friends. Do you think I sprang to life fully grown from my father's forehead? Let me tell you something, Ginny. My friends and I made Fred and George look like perfect angels.§

She laughed because she couldn't help it. The thought was absurd. If he really knew Fred and George, he would be prepared to take that back because it was hard to imagine anything worse.

Ginny thought more about what he told her, and that meant questions. She knew from Harry, though, that his father had been a stag, and that was the reason for his Patronus. James had become an Animagus to help his friend Remus. She might eventually need to enlist her own friends' help if her fear was confirmed.

§So… How did you all learn to become Animagi?§ she prompted in hopes that he would tell her something she could use. §Where did it begin?§

###

**Hogwarts, Marauders' 2nd Year, Spring**

Remus was out on the Quidditch pitch watching James and the rest of the Gryffindor house team practice. Sirius ran to him in excitement, clutching a book under his arm.

"Well, hello, Mr. Moony!" he said with a big grin.

"Moony?" Remus answered back in dismay. He hadn't heard that nickname before, but once the boys had learned that he was a werewolf, he should have realized they would think of something.

"Yeah. What else would you have me call you? Mr. Werewolf-sitting-in-the-grass?"

He gave his friend an offensive hand gesture and said, "'Remus' is fine."

"Anyway," Sirius said grandly while finding a place for him beside Remus, "I was talking to some third years. Do you know that McGonagall is a registered Animagus?"

He had remembered talk of it. It seemed like an interesting thing to be able to change shapes at will. As he was already partial to changing shapes once a month, he never much considered anything beyond that.

"Sure. She's a cat," Remus said. Then he joked about his own shape, "I could eat her!"

"What if we learn to become Animagi?" Sirius asked with a sparkle of excitement in his eye.

"I already change, you know," Remus clarified.

"Not you, you prat! Me, James and Peter. We could learn to change with you," Black said with a triumphant smile.

"What? Why?" he stammered back.

"I just thought that if we could change into animals ourselves, we could go with you during the full moon. You _know_ that's an adventure waiting to happen!" Sirius had already been dreaming about the adventures they would be having, so he imagined it clearly.

"That's pretty advanced magic," Remus said softly as he thought about it.

The other boy shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not impossible, or else it wouldn't be there for the doing. So what do you think?" he asked, turning back to his friend with an excited expression on his face.

"Do you mean it? Have you told James?"

Again the Black's smile lit his face. "Yes, I mean it, and no, I told you first."

Employing the joke that would soon become over-used, Remus said, "Sirius, I have never known you to be serious about anything, but maybe..."

"Well, there's a first time for everything. Now look at this," he said as he moved closer to Remus so he, too, could see the book.

As the two boys were sitting there with their heads huddled together, Lily Evans came over to them. "What are you two up to now?"

"Nothing!" Sirius said immediately, and then he accused, "You have a suspicious mind!"

"I'd expect reading out of Remus, but not you, Sirius," she said pointedly.

Remus countered her with, "Why are you here, Lily? We all know you don't like Quidditch. Finally taking a look at Potter?"

"No!" she said with a measure of disgust before turning on her heel to walk away.

"Pretty girl," Remus said after her retreating figure.

Sirius grunted. "And James wants to make her his. He thinks they are meant to be."

"Sure, like _that_ happens in real life," the young werewolf replied.

"Eh, sometimes you just know the person you want to spend the rest of your life with," Sirius joked with high melodrama, batting his eyelashes at Remus.

Laughing, Lupin told Black to "Sod off!" and he punched him in the arm.

Together the two Gryffindors then studied the Transfiguration text in hopes to unlocking the key to becoming Animagi.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter was from "Lullaby Requiem" performed by Neil Finn on the album _One All_ (North America only).


	16. Moonquake

**CHAPTER 16:  
Moonquake**

_Even ships of the night send out the alarm  
My face is turning white in case of emergency  
_~Neil Finn

Robert walked quietly down the hall of the dungeon to the girl's holding cell. A bead of sweat dripped down his back, a small indication of the fear he felt. Despite what Jonathan might think, he knew holding the girl and the werewolf would be the death of him. The girl, whatever she was, still worried him more than the man did.

Ginny lay on the cold floor of her cell, no longer sleeping away as she had during the first week after her bite. She was awake and still fighting the after-effects, but her mind was not always clear. She knew Robert was coming before she could have possible reason or forewarning. Even with the mind link she shared with Remus, he couldn't have told her about Robert. It was an awakening of her senses that at times made her skin feel like it was literally crawling all over her.

Everything about Ginny seemed to be on fire. All the sensory input burned into her as it never had before leaving her feeling like living ash. She could hear the insects crawling in the walls, their small feet sending sounds of war hammers to her ears. She smelled the musty scent of man that mingled with her sense of taste so she knew the unique savor of his sweat and his skin even without having to taste him. When Robert entered her cell, she felt the heat radiating off his body and knew it as intimately as if it were mapped with color.

Ginny was being driven mad by changes that were beyond her control, and she blamed Remus for it. She wanted to be closer to Lupin because he was her sole contact with the world she knew, and yet Moony repelled her because she feared him. He'd marked her forever, and she knew that.

While Jonathan might have used a non-scarification spell on her, it had nothing to do with wounds that did not heal. Ginny's shoulder was still open and raw, a testament to the damage from the werewolf. Moony was dangerous, and she knew with certainty in each passing increment of time that marched to the full moon that she was becoming more like him.

Robert gave the incantation to let the door come open, and Ginny waited patiently as if watching a rodent she wanted to devour. The idea repulsed her when she realized what she was thinking, but she couldn't stop herself. She noticed his bandaged hand and that he'd been bleeding recently. Unconsciously, she licked her lips in anticipation once she realized this. The scent of his blood had a sharp coppery tang, she noted, and it was different than hers or Jonathan's. His scent livened up her nose by the presence of his fear and caution, urging her on to more predatory thoughts.

§Ginny,§ Lupin's cautious mental voice interrupted her wanderings.

Watching Robert intently as he made sure she was bound, Ginny sent back a simple and annoyed, §Not _now_, Remus.§

She couldn't deal with him yet, not on any conscious level that acknowledged what had happened between them. Why she should so easily face a captor made no sense to her at all, but such was the nature of emotions. They didn't often have logic.

Robert, feeling his skin tingle as he neared her, set out to check on Ginny's wound. He had looked at her once and realized that she would have been beautiful in different conditions. Here, she was not that at all. The wound at her neck was still open with the effect of spoiled meat. Had he not built up a resistance of a sort because of Jonathan's many experiments on others before this girl, he would have most certainly felt his stomach turn.

"There's a reason why werewolf bites can't be treated," he rambled as he inspected her shoulder. "We'll know very soon," he added as a soft aside.

§He means their Full Moonlight Spell, Ginny,§ Remus added to Robert's comment.

She growled at the mental intrusion of his obvious eavesdropping, causing the already cautious servant to look at her. Unconcerned for the man in the room with her, Ginny shot back to Lupin. §Stay out of my head!§

§You found _me_. Don't forget that. So don't you tell me about staying out of someone's head,§ he replied icily.

§Well, maybe I didn't want _you_,§ she sparred back. Before they were in this situation, he had never made her feel so angry, and it felt like a tide of emotion she couldn't control. §I don't even know how I did it, or I would have stopped! Or picked someone else who could have actually gotten me out of here!§

Giving in to his own spite, he answered, §And I would have left them to it.§

She fought him again and resolutely tuned him out, not interested any more in what Remus Lupin might have to tell her. The feral snarl that warped her mouth wasn't left unnoticed by Robert who drew his wand on her, but she wasn't thinking of the man beside her. Her senses quickly jumped to the new sensory input of a man with a lithe and graceful walk coming down the hallway and into the cell.

Jonathan stepped into the room looking as pristine as one of the old time dandies. His clothing was cut to perfection—trousers tight over his slim male hips and his shirt emphasized the strength in his chest. With a scowl Ginny noticed that he looked like one of the wizard models who would grace the covers of the cheap romance novels that she and her fellow Gryffindor girls would read and giggle about late at night.

He removed his leather gloves and walked over to both her and Robert. He looked at his fingernails in yet another affectation of gentility. A small signet ring on his pinky glinted back at Ginny, and it made her repulsed at how superfluous it was. Everything about this man and this place drew out all shades of negative emotions from her. While she'd suffered at the perverse hands of Tom Riddle himself, her time spent with the shade in the Chamber had only been a portion of the time that she had already spent with Jonathan. Also like Tom, he had no sense of fear at all, unlike the emotion Robert fought so hard to keep in check.

Slapping the leather gloves on his left palm as was one of his habits, Jonathan inquired as to the girl's readiness for the Full Moonlight Spell.

"Ready, sir," Robert told him cautiously. "I think this may prove that she is a werewolf. She has been exhibiting certain, ah… 'mannerisms,' shall we say."

Turning his hand over in a grand gesture, Jonathan mocked, "Your concern is of no importance to me. We can handle her as we have always handled her."

Because of the exaggerated hand motion, the signet ring that had been on Moss's pinky finger slipped off his hand. Before he could realize that it had fallen, Ginny deftly swiped it from out of the air, her eyes glinting back to him in triumph over her newly acquired possession.

His face changing when he recognized her preternatural swiftness, Jonathan quickly incanted, "Stupefy!" Then turning to his manservant, he gruffly allowed, "You may have been correct."

Together the two used the Mobilicorpus spell to transport the temporarily unconscious Ginny into the larger chamber where they would begin the experiment on her with the Full Moonlight Spell.

###

In his own cell, Remus was seething. It was so easy to rage at Ginny when she pushed his buttons. Had she been such a difficult child when she was his student? Somehow he could not remember her being so. Plus, it was easier to rage at her with whom he could communicate than at the captors who were very effective at keeping them restrained.

Then Lupin thought of the experiment that Moss was going to do on her, and it didn't make any sense at all. If anything, he should first test the Full Moonlight Spell on the known werewolf he already had in captivity: Remus. Perhaps he was trying to force her into morphing into one whether or not the bite had truly changed her. Maybe Moss was trying to make a werewolf army. That didn't seem to fit the man, though, because Moss was too childlike in his joy of the malicious moment than to desire complete world domination as Voldemort and his ilk wished.

Remus sat in the cold of his cell wondering what was happening to Ginny and needing to know for his own sake just what was going on, yet he was too stubborn to try to sneak in to her mind and eavesdrop again. His own mind was distracted by the memories of happier times with his friends at Hogwarts when they were learning to be Animagi.

They used to sit on his four-poster bed in Gryffindor tower and whisper to each other about what they were going to do and the adventures they were going to have. Often they would wonder what kind of animals they would be once they mastered the trick of being an Animagus, and there most certainly was a trick of some sort. According to the books they snuck out of the library, an Animagus could only take one animal form. It wasn't the same thing as being a true shape-shifter as a Metamorphmagus was.

"James, you'll be an ass," Sirius had said while tossing his dirty socks over to Potter.

Peter had giggled at the play, and James snapped him with the toe of the sock. "Shut it, you! You might be a grindylow, so I wouldn't laugh."

"Nah," the blond boy had laughed off while swatting away. "What about you, Remus?"

"Werewolf," the younger Lupin had said with an air of exaggerated patience. "But you wouldn't look very good as a grindylow. Maybe you'd be a… a fox."

Pettigrew had liked that and nodded in preening satisfaction. "Old Black over there with his pureblood heritage is a mutt through and through."

"Did you hear that, James? He thinks I'm a dog!" Sirius bantered, amused by the idea.

Potter agreed. "You might well be, but that still doesn't tell what the rest of us will become."

Again with the patience of someone dealing with idiots, teenaged Remus held his hand up and said, "Werewolf."

James had laughed and started attacking him with the socks while the other two piled on top of him. Lupin had laughed with them at their antics.

The present Remus smiled in his typically slight way at the reflection of his memory. It was a happy time for him when he felt the most normal and at peace in the world because he was surrounded with friends. But quickly as if on cue, that happiness was marred by the memory of the sorrow that would follow.

Sometimes when he felt particularly reflective, he had analyzed his memories to see if he could have predicted how things would go. Was there something he could have seen to prevent it all? Even if he did want to know and understand it, in the end of it all the parade of thoughts never gave him comfort, so he eventually stopped trying to think his way out of it. Even with the power of subtle time manipulation as they had with the time turners, nothing could truly change the past. He was rather skeptical about the truth of the concept of free will. What was meant to be would be in his inner estimation.

And right now his situation of being was that of a prisoner sharing a mind link with Ginny Weasley. No, he wouldn't have ever considered that, but he still had to draw on his deep well of self-preservation to find the solution to get them out of it. Life had dealt him too hard of a hand for him to just surrender and die. The fight was still yet in this dog, even if the dog had been taken out of the fight.

###

As he walked through the hallway, the shadows fell over Jonathan's beautiful face, creating shapes in a mask that would never stay. He was deep in thought over his magical endeavor with his pet redhead. He had the strong hunch that no matter who was on the receiving end of his new Full Moonlight Spell, it would cause interesting effects. Insanity would happen in most people, and in a werewolf it would cause transformations. He didn't doubt that though he hadn't actually tested it on any werewolf. He was confident in his magical success because of previous successes in other experiments, and there was nothing to indicate his self-assessment was erroneous.

When he and Robert entered the play room, four of his minions were there waiting for him. He had a passing thought that it was hard to find a good minion with just the right amount of initiative but not so much that he would be insubordinate. Of course, Jonathan didn't think of them as minions; those are what "evil" people had. He wasn't evil because to be evil involved judgments of right and wrong. He didn't care about that because from his point of view some things just were.

"Fasten her to the table," Moss directed one of his men.

Ginny was secured with bindings across her upper arms and torso, her waist, thighs, and her lower legs. Around her the six different men, who in addition to Jonathan, included Robert, Theo, Frank, Stewart and a seldom seen man named Nathaniel, gathered at sixty degree intervals. Jonathan stood at her head, and the others fell in line around the table with Nathaniel closing the circle and standing somewhat near her right shoulder.

"Wake up, sweetheart," Moss said to her, slapping her face briskly.

She opened her brown eyes slowly, taking in the details of every man in the room, hating each one in turn in a way that smoldered. The angry light in her eyes flickered as she looked at them individually. If hate for them and her captivity could sustain her, she thought she could live long enough so see the next evolution of mankind.

Moss looked at his men gathered round, being sure to catch the gaze of each one of them. The spell was layered and intricately precise so that each had to play his part perfectly. The fan of children's songs that he was when he was working, this spell understandably had an almost childish element to it.

There were songs that were sung in round, and the incantation with the new spell used the same concept. Jonathan would begin and when he got to a certain point in the spell, the man on his left would add his magic on top of that. It would go clockwise adding each different man's magic until the incantation traversed the entire circle. All would chant until they had gotten to a cadence in the music of the spell. He had timed it so that the other voices would enter and leave the incantation, but the first and last voice would be his own. The creative symmetry of such a spell pleased him and reinforced the feeling of his own genius.

Ginny in the center of the circle of wizards would receive layers of magical moonlight so that like phases of the moon in the sky there would be the appearance of full light in the room. If she had been turned into a werewolf by Moony's bite, it would manifest itself as surely as if they'd captured the real full moon and pulled it down to them.

Beginning the incantation, Jonathan pointed his wand at Ginny. The tip lit up with the white light as though he'd done a Lumos spell while a pale sheet of light came over her like a wave. At first it felt to her like a cool breeze, a sweet change against the fever that had been burning in her ceaselessly for so long. This manifestation of light while still weak in color started to become more assured as the incantation continued.

When the next man added his magic, the light and her reaction to it started to change. She felt her scalp begin to tingle in a way that started gently but increased so that it felt like she was itching from accelerated follicular activity all over her body. She wondered if this was what it felt like when starting to grow werewolf fur, but some slim optimistic part of her mind that still held hope against becoming a werewolf pushed the thought forcibly from her mind.

When the third layer of magic was added to the tapestry, she felt herself start to change in more dramatic ways. Ginny let out a whimper as her worst fear was confirmed. She was like Remus, and her life, what little was left of it, would never be as a normal human being ever again. She whimpered again, but the sound started to change as her bones started to rearrange themselves into a new shape.

Above her, Jonathan didn't lose the rhythm of the incantation, but he could not stop the note of glee from entering his voice. His spell was working, and as each layer of artificial moonlight was set on top of the girl, the werewolf inside her came more to light.

The real werewolf who remained bonded with the redhead witnessed this growing transformation silently as she began to unintentionally broadcast the edges her pain. It had a sickly sweet familiarity to him. Lightly, Remus slipped into her mind. It was as if he was immersing himself into a pool of all that was Ginny, and he felt as she felt not just the fragments that would bleed out of her mind into his. Though he was gentle and sought no attention, she realized that it comforted her to feel him within her. Had she had the mental space to do so, she would have regretted the spat they'd had earlier.

The fourth man put his layer of magic into the growing spell matrix, and as the circle was approaching its fullness, Ginny's changes started to come more strongly. Her nose and jaw lengthened. Her hands and feet started to move into a pawed shape.

§No, Remus,§ she mentally protested in a way that would have sounded like a whimper if it were uttered aloud.

Closing his eyes were he was, he replied, §I'm so sorry, Ginny.§ The words were a futile expression as it was too late now to change the infection that made normal people into werewolves.

The sound in the room was buzzing in her ears at this time, and the blood was thrumming in her veins. Ginny felt the anger rising inside her as if there were bees stinging her flesh at every part. Her anger felt like a weapon, and though the layers of spell were coming down upon her, she could not help but to rebel against it.

Remus, feeling her strength of character rallying within her, was inspired to fight as well. The only help he could offer was to encourage her and to somehow, if it were possible with this link they shared, offer to feel the pain of transformation for her.

When the fifth of the men surrounding Ginny added his magic, the circle began to destabilize. The effect of all the wands pointing at the same object was beginning to act like natural power of magnets that repel each other. Each had to hold on tighter to his wand to keep the spell going. The earlier joy of Jonathan's that had filled the room was disappearing with the concerted work of bringing the spell to completion.

Nathaniel, who had not yet entered the chant, stared in fascination at the wound on Ginny's shoulder. It was pasty and grey-green when the girl had been brought into the room, but that was no longer true. The flesh was moving in an odd way that reminded him of the capricious nature of burning parchment. Edges of skin were growing, changing and falling away, and the color was moving into shades of red.

Ginny writhed against the bonds as some partial werewolf shape tried to come out of her. Battling against it, she asked Remus wearily, §This happens to you _every_ month?§

§Yes,§ he answered grimly.

A war waged within her in which she tried to fight inevitability of becoming a werewolf. A weak voice in her mind that was neither her own nor Lupin's whispered the sultry suggestion that surrender wouldn't be so bad. Why did she always have to fight?

The moment she entertained the notion of surrender, another piece of her body changed wolfishly. She knew this voice, the voice of cloying sweetness that wished her death. Tom had done that to her and nearly won. He was the unacknowledged darkness that still lived inside her.

Finally, it was the turn for Nathaniel to add his magic, completing the circle, and if Jonathan was right, the girl would be fully transformed into a werewolf even though there was no natural full moon in the sky. As the servant spoke, he momentarily stumbled over the words and held his trembling wand in place with both hands. Ginny's shape was amorphous and no longer human, though it had not yet committed to the shape of a werewolf.

Seeing Ginny almost entirely transformed, Jonathan's lips curved in the sweet satisfaction of triumph, but the spell was not complete. The incantation had to be finished by Nathaniel and then brought back to him to tie together like the master spell weaver he envisioned himself to be.

The tension rose in the circle with each wand fighting each other to be the dominant magic of the spell, power rising in and out of the matrix as the voices of a song taking the lead at different times. Ginny was taking labored breaths while Remus within her was coaching her gently as if he were a husband guiding his wife through the pain of delivery.

As Nathaniel continued with his incantation, his wand felt hot in his hand. He started shaking again from discomfort, but he did not dare drop it or fail to complete his part of Jonathan's spell. He knew without asking that failure at such a task would not be met with kindness and understanding.

Upon finishing adding his magic to the elaborate spell, Nathaniel slyly looked at his hand, and already it was pink and starting to blister as if it had been severely burned. He took an assessing glance around the table and didn't notice that the others were having similar difficulties. Time was not to be wasted as the entire canon of the incantation was finishing, and Moss's voice of authority brought him back to attention.

When this last piece of the puzzle was being fit into place, Ginny fought to hold on to the last vestiges of her humanity, but it slipped away from her faster than wet sand through fingertips. Her mental voice inside Lupin's head no longer had words, just the crying of pain that was wracking her body. It was a pain that he knew too intimately as his own cruel mistress.

§Ginny, if you have to let go, it won't be so bad,§ he consoled. §I'll be here to catch you.§

It was all he could do at this point. He'd been there within her in a way more than most people thought possible, yet he could not completely take this burden. As Ginny's pain ratcheted, Remus felt a feverish flush sweep over him. He didn't think right away of it as sweat had been dripping from him nearly from the moment the men had started the spell on her.

Away from Lupin in the far side of the manor, all six of the pieces of magic were in perfect position. The united group incanted the spell one last time together, and Jonathan completed the entire circle by saying it once without the accompaniment of the others. His voice rose in satisfied triumph as he ended with a fortissimo shout.

During the spell, Ginny's form had already changed away from that of recognizably human, but at that last shout all ties to the previous world were forcibly ejected from her. The mental connection that Remus had with her, so strong even through the pain of her first transformation, was completely broken. The older werewolf was cast out of her and fell back to the darkness of his pit of a cell with the crushing weight of being swallowed into a black hole in outer space.

He gasped for breath before realizing in ever increasing panic that his cell was not dark at all. In fact, it was brightly lit because he was on fire!

"BLOODY HELL!" Remus yelled out to no one who would hear him.

He looked at his fingers, and they were completely engulfed in flames. The primal animal part of him did what instinct told him. He tried to flee from the flame only to see that it was a living flame that would not be put out.

He realized with sickness that the fire was not burning him, though it still raged. It burned with Biblical intensity without consuming him. He shook his fingers again with fear, thinking of Ginny's vulnerable position as he did so. Surprisingly, with concern for her at the fore of his mind, the flame stopped with a flick of his fingers.

Unaware of Remus or the eruption of flames in his cell, one or two of the men around the table looked at the new werewolf in dumbfounded surprise. Jonathan glowed in triumph, and his heart filled with a glee that could not be contained or adequately expressed. Ginny spasmed as the residual pain of the first transformation wracked through her, but her new form remained true. By force of magic alone and perhaps aided by Moony's bite, she was transformed, proving Jonathan's spell a complete success.

Sweat dripped from Nathaniel's brow, and he went to wipe it with his wand hand. He winced as he felt the blisters there. He looked at the other men who seemed to have been frozen and not dared to move.

While the men in their close proximity to Ginny stood in shock, Remus from a distance tried to reenter her mind. He could not feel her as he once had, though feeling her at all was admittedly still too new. The walls that stopped him belonged to a werewolf without even the vapor of a memory of the human girl she had once been. He felt he should have known the feral mind that blocked him. He had one of his own, but this new change kept him from her in a way that his own possessive werewolf was not about to allow. In an act of unmitigated instinct from the werewolf inside him, he tried to return to her, the person he felt was his.

In the room, the awed silence was broken by Theo, his head dripping of sweat, who sniffed the air loudly. It was an acrid burning that made his nose wrinkle. The burning might explain the heat and why he and the men were drenched even though it was a cold November's night. He looked at the men and wondered to himself as to the source of the heat.

With a smirk on his face, Jonathan instructed them all to lower their wands. As they did so, Stewart commented, "Boss, is she supposed to be doing that?"

Though still strapped to the table and twitching as if the victim of a seizure, the new werewolf began to glow.

"She's absorbed the moonlight," Moss replied in cocky confidence of his answer.

The glowing intensified and then started to flicker out of her and die as quickly as it had come. When the luminescence was gone, the room was very dark, nearly pitch black. Then with the sound like a Muggle generator gathering power, the night seemed to hold its breath in anticipation.

In seconds the quivering new werewolf that Ginny had been burned white hot with a light that blinded the men around her. Not content to let her form be consumed, it exploded out from her like a white star gone into supernova. Waves of power pushed back the men standing around the table, knocking them to the floor. The white heat was blinding, and it almost made a cracking sound as it went.

Giving a moment to shake off the jolt, they stood up to find not the werewolf that their combined magic had transformed. It was the captured girl as she had been in her human form, but the girl had one significant difference.

"Her wound is gone," Nathaniel whispered, looking in alarm at Jonathan and Robert.

As sure as he said it, it was so. Her head lolled to one side, Ginny's neck was clearly exposed to where her werewolf bite had been. No evidence that it had ever been there remained. While most of her fast recoveries could be explained away as a byproduct of the non-scarification spell, they all knew this was not even in that same realm of magic.

Meanwhile, alone in his cell, Remus hugged his knees and rocked back and forth slightly in mad panic over the true transformation to Ginny that had taken place. It wasn't the temporary change to a werewolf that had scared him but her move into a magic so wild and ancient that it was only whispered about in legends and fairy tales.

Ginny Weasley was an Elemental witch. She had the power of fire, and the world around her—around _him_—would burn.

* * *

**A/N**: The song lyric for this chapter is from "Ships" performed by Split Enz on the album _Corroboree_ (Australia) / _Waiata_ (the rest of the world).

The chapters after this are all new content not previously posted when this story was up the first time.


	17. Aftershocks

**CHAPTER 17:  
Aftershocks**

_People are like suns  
They're burning up inside  
_~Neil Finn

The men brought Ginny back to her cell and left her there to rot for a while. She had fallen into another bout of almost comatose sleep after the spell had been performed. In truth, they didn't know what to do with her, and everyone except Jonathan was afraid of her. To absorb that magic so fully and then spit it out meant that there was something happening to her, and their fear of the unknown slightly edged out the fear of their boss.

Meanwhile, in his cell, Remus was plotting and planning. His mind was so active that he felt alive and drunk off the power that Ginny held. He had known and been close to powerful witches and wizards on both sides of Light and Dark, but nothing was quite like the Elemental magic she held, not even Voldemort himself.

He just had to find a way to bring her back from where she was hiding. They could escape somehow. He could have Robert befriend them. His instincts, which were right most of the time except for when they were glaringly wrong, as they had been with Peter, told him Robert was their ticket to freedom.

When the servant was passing through the cells to check on him two days after the experiment on Ginny, Remus scratchily asked, "How is she?"

He looked guilty, keeping by the door while Lupin stayed inside the room at the farthest point away from him. Robert seemed to hesitate to answer, and the werewolf caught it. His Moony influence came out to taunt the man.

"Did he tell you not to tell us? Don't you think I hear things in this dungeon? Don't you think I smell things? I am a werewolf, and that's one thing I know you never forget. It makes you so scared your two little friends try to retreat inside your body every time you're around me," he said nastily. "So relax and tell me what I want to know."

The last he said perfectly reasonably as if he were not a prisoner under Robert's care. The wizard seemed to grasp that as a werewolf Remus would make every effort to escape if it were him on his own. The presence of the girl made him extremely dangerous.

Moony continued to look at Robert, staring at him with the wolfish eyes he used to hypnotize him into submission. He would do the same of any subordinate wolf around him. He found he liked stretching his senses this way as the apex predator he was.

"She's sleeping deeply," the butler finally said. "But she's not sick. At least she's not got a fever."

"No, I imagine not," Remus said dryly. All the fire she had in her body had been expelled after they had done the Full Moonlight Spell on her.

"And will I get the benefit of this interesting incantation our gracious host has created?" Lupin asked. "Now if I have the right understanding about what happened... You will forgive me for hearing idle talk while chained in a dungeon, but it happens. Anyway, if I understand, you wanted to create a Full Moonlight Spell and test it on a known _human_? How intelligent was that?

"If it didn't work, it might have been because your testing was flawed. You already know I'm a werewolf, and you know I would change if you brought an authentic facsimile of moonlight. To test it on her first was frivolous and a little stupid, don't you think?" he mocked.

Robert's eyes widened at the werewolf's loquaciousness.

"Tell me. Did any of you get injured doing it?" he asked knowingly.

"Why, yes," he admitted with a stutter.

"Maybe it's because you shouldn't be been doing something like that on someone who wasn't a werewolf," he said, hoping to further implant the seed into Robert's mind to leave Ginny alone.

Remus was reasonably certain that the spell would not actually affect her any more if they did try to go back to it. What lycanthropic infection she had was already burned out of her thanks to her Elemental magic. He just wanted them to leave her alone until he could figure out a way to get them both out of their imprisonment. His Moony side didn't seem to be helping him too much because he was more interested in playing with Robert the same way a cat would play with a mouse before he eats it.

"What makes you so afraid, Robert?" he asked as he leaned his face into the light, his grey eyes glinting silver.

"As if I would ever tell you that!" he protested, shaking partially out of the stupor that Moony had put him into.

"Can you really be idle while a young girl is tortured? Have you lost so much of your conscience that nothing is left?" Lupin asked him again.

The butler's face became unreadable, and he let himself out of Lupin's cell while Moony calculated his next move.

###

Ginny started to come to herself sometime during the next day. She felt Moony's mind hovering on the edge of her consciousness waiting to prod her awake. There was a buzzing excitement in it that she didn't want to acknowledge yet. She was still too afraid to examine what had happened when she had been the victim of Jonathan's spell.

Lupin's persistence won out, and when she paid attention to him, his mental voice seemed to carry with it tones of curiosity and triumph. She didn't understand that, either, but it was such a welcome change from the depression that was brought on by three or so weeks of capture. She wasn't sure about that, either, given that time had started slipping into itself. It was the consistency of the moon that she as a possible werewolf valued now.

§Ginny, do you know what you did?§ Remus finally asked her with his excitement bubbling. He had been happy she was awake and sent her warm images to make her feel it, too. The fact he could do it was both wonderful and strange, but during most of the time that they realized their mental connection, she had been too sick to take advantage of it.

§I know I turned into a werewolf,§ she finally thought to him. It was the admission of her worst fear.

If she could have seen his face, she would have seen his smile. It truly was wolfish, but very satisfied. §You didn't stay that way, my dear. No, you didn't. You are not a werewolf, Ginny, but I think I know who you are.§

§I'm a witch in captivity,§ she said as she looked around her cell.

§True, but you are so much more than that. So much more, and I don't think even you know it yet. That's why you have me,§ he answered smugly.

She sighed, though he didn't hear it. She would in no way accuse him of having multiple personality disorder or any of the other psychological instabilities, but he had times where his werewolf nature, which was aggressive, was much more dominant than his normally placid human persona. It could be true that it was just a mask to cover his true self, and she would grant that after being duped by Tom, perhaps she didn't have the best judgment of other people's true characters.

§What is it, Remus?§ she asked wearily. §I am more than my circumstances? Will it matter enough to get me out of them?§

§I think so. We just have to figure out how,§ he said frustratingly. Of course they had to figure out how to get out of captivity. That had been the point to begin with!

The time it took her for her annoyance to come to the surface must have been a clue to Remus to speed the lecture along and stop trying to make it such a teachable moment. Professor Lupin had to be put away in favor of Moony who knew mischief.

§What do you know about wandless magic, Ginny?§ he asked her. §Yes, this is important. Go on, tell me what you think you know.§

She remembered the day in Transfiguration class with the Ravenclaws in September. Had it really only been September? Professor McGonagall had told the class about it then when the students had tried to derail her from the main topic at hand.

§Wandless magic barely exists. What little you can find is wild and untamed. Every magical child knows we have wands to focus magic,§ she thought.

§You know wandless magic exists. It's not normal, and it's rarely reliable. It does exist, though, and what if it can be captured? What if, even in its wildest form, it could be tamed?§ he asked. It seemed that Professor Lupin hadn't actually left the conversation after all. §If not tamed, could it be made a willing partner?§

She was feeling annoyed because she didn't understand what he was getting at, and by the words in his thoughts, it seemed that he expected that she would. So finally Ginny asked, §How do you think wandless magic applies to me and our situation?§

In his cell he smiled. It was not the mad triumph but a satisfaction that calmed even his inner beast. §You can do wandless magic, Miss Weasley, and it is stronger than anything anyone has ever seen since long before magical folk started using wands. It is stronger than the accidents magical children have before they go to school. The kind of witch you are is a matter of legend whispered by people who are afraid that someone like you might actually exist, and the best thing of all is that right now, I suspect I am the only one who knows it.§

§That seems accurate,§ she deadpanned. She didn't consciously know the first thing about doing any spells without her wand, and she sure didn't have any potions ingredients with her in her dungeon cell. So even she wasn't sure what Lupin was talking about.

Ginny could feel his happy energy in her mind, but it didn't open any doors in her abilities. She couldn't even think of what it was that she might try to do. Her mind was a blank in terms of any creativity. She sighed and acknowledged the comfort that a blank mind had brought her. It was the first time during her waking hours since she had been captured that she was not fixated on her predicament.

§Remus, what is it that you think I can do? I don't understand what you want me to _do_,§ she said, emphasizing the verb. If anything, Ginny had always been a person of action. It's how she played the game of Quidditch and how she approached most problems after her ordeal in the Chamber.

§You are an Elemental witch, Ginny. It's not just that you can do magic without your wand, but your magic is special and, oh, so very wild. Do you even know which force of nature it is that you can control?§ he asked, careful with his wording. To some fire was an element, and to others it was merely the particles of the universe in motion.

§If I would have known that, I wouldn't be asking you,§ she answered with some derision.

She stopped for a moment reflecting that he'd made her humor come out even though they were in this situation. It was a minor miracle, and she had to allow herself a moment to feel satisfied about it before she went on to answer the question. Thinking back upon recent events and the things that happened that could not be explained simply, she came to one conclusion.

§Is it wind?§ she asked him.

§No, my dear. Do you want to try again, or shall I tell you?§ he asked, sounding in her mind to be extremely pleased with himself.

§By all means tell me,§ she replied, letting him have his teacherly moment.

§Fire,§ he thought with the very tone of it being warm and inviting, almost comforting though he told her it was wild magic.

Ginny whimpered to herself. Fire? She could create wandless fire? That was just impossible, she reasoned. It sounded as crazy as something Luna and her father would put into the _Quibbler_.

§I'm right, Gin,§ he stated with confidence. §When you were being tortured with the Full Moonlight Spell, your body fought back with fire. I know because you made fire appear in my room and all over me, the one person with whom you have a mental connection. If you don't believe me, ask yourself one thing. Are you still a werewolf?§

Her hand went to her shoulder where Moony had bitten her. She was expecting the same pain and mess. It was the fear of what she might still find there that had kept her from checking it out earlier. She realized, though, that he was right as far as the wound. If the bite wound was healed, did that mean her lycanthropic infection was gone as well?

Sighing, she asked him, §How do I do this? I don't know how to control it, and I certainly don't know how to make something happen again if it's just an accident.§

§I think it's a fear response. Now that you know it's there, though, you can pay attention to it and bring it into conscious control,§ he responded.

§Oh, like you possibly becoming a wolf Animagus, right?§ she asked innocently.

That unexpected comment threw him for a moment. §What do you mean?§

§If your body remembers what it's like to change into a werewolf, why can't you change any time of the month even when it's not the full moon?§ she asked.

He was hesitant. §I... think I'm too old to learn that, but I know you're not, Ginny. I believe in you. You can do this.§

_I hope you__'__re right_, she thought doubtfully to herself.

###

At Hogwarts, Harry Potter was doing his homework in the library, but unlike most of the time he did it, he was not accompanied by Ron or Hermione. They were busy with their duties as Head Boy and Head Girl, though he suspected they were also taking time to snog in the broom closet.

He tried not to begrudge them happiness together. If Ginny had been there with them, she would have wanted them to enjoy all the perks that went with being a couple. The thing was, Ginny wasn't there, and it wasn't as simple as saving her from a dungeon on Hogwarts grounds.

"Harry?" a voice asked, and he looked up from the reading that he was barely doing. The voice happened to belong to Neville Longbottom, who had turned into a surprisingly fit young man.

Without a word he gestured that Neville could sit with him, and the boy did so in silence. Potter thought he would talk his ear off by either making words of sympathy or questioning him for answers he did not have. The fact that he did neither was a refreshing change from what had become the status quo in the nearly four weeks since Ginny disappeared.

After a long silence, Potter blurted, "I miss her, Neville. I want her back, and no one can tell me anything. It's like they've stopped trying!"

"Maybe they don't know what to look for," he suggested helpfully, though it only made Harry pull an exaggerated face.

"It's true!" he said. "Sometimes there are things right under our noses, but we'd never see it if we don't know what to look for. Have you ever heard of a Venus flytrap?"

Potter gave him a doubtful look, so Longbottom continued.

"A Venus flytrap is a meat eating plant from the Muggle world. I thought maybe you would have heard of it," he mumbled. "My point is that it's clever, and it hides in plain sight. It tricks bugs into falling into it so the plant can eat it. Maybe Ginny's hiding somewhere in plain sight but we don't know it because we don't know what to look for."

Harry sighed. "That sounds like nearly every time I've had to battle Voldemort."

At the sound of the name, Longbottom gave an involuntary twitch. "Do you think h-he took her?"

"I don't know, but…" Potter said, already blushing with embarrassment for what he was thinking. "Ginny's birthday is the same day my parents were killed. When she became my girlfriend, it was like I found something to be happy about for that day instead of just thinking about my parents. Now I don't even have that."

He blinked and tried to hold back any other emotion that might want to come spilling out of him. Neville was a good friend, though, and he'd keep Harry's confidence. Potter thanked him and went back to his work feeling slightly better for sharing with him.

###

In the early evening of the next day after Ginny awoke, Remus had a guest in his cell in the form of the ebullient Jonathan Moss. It was a smiling face that the werewolf did not trust, so he began on the offensive.

"What kind of torture do you have planned for me today? I dare not make suggestions in case you take some of my ideas," he said.

He shook his head and smiled as if he were humoring a small child. "I have my own ideas, thank you. I will say that I have spoken with Robert, and I believe you to be right. I really need to test my Full Moonlight Spell on you. I admit I was feeling overconfident when I thought to test it on that infected girl first, but perhaps hubris is my fatal flaw."

Remus thought to himself that Jonathan's fatal flaw was much different than mere hubris.

"After all," Jonathan continued to prattle, "it seems to me that my spell cured your little friend of the werewolf bite you gave her. You both should be thanking me, really. But you? You are a werewolf, and a mighty fine specimen, indeed. By the way, how is your shoulder?"

Lupin flinched as he remembered the spot where Moss had shot him with a bow and arrow. That caused Jonathan to smile disgustingly wide in satisfaction.

"That's right. I can take you down, and don't think I missed. So now that I have you, I will take advantage of this unique and beneficial situation," he said with a certain amount of smugness. "Tonight is Wednesday night, but on Sunday night, we will have the new moon. I imagine that is the favorite time of the month for a werewolf since it is the one time you are farthest away from the moon's power."

Moss crouched down low in front of him as he delivered the next part of his plan. "You, however, will be under _my_ power, and we will try the Full Moonlight Spell on you. The difference is that I don't think it will cure your lycanthropy for you as it did for your little friend. No, I think you're stuck with it and that you'll be forced into a change. It's terribly exciting, really."

"Do you think that at this point in my life I fear being a werewolf?" Remus asked him acidly.

Jonathan gave out a surprised noise at his question. "Oh, that's quaint. You think I actually care what you think about all this. That has to be one of the most humorous things I have heard this day, and I have heard quite a lot."

Standing to his feet, Lupin's captor told him it would be his turn in four nights to feel the effects of the Full Moonlight Spell. The werewolf kept his expression completely neutral until Moss left the cell.

###

After Jonathan had left the dungeons, Stewart lurked around the edges of the cells waiting for Robert to appear. When the butler saw him, he immediately rebuffed him. "Mr. Moss said no one is to entertain the guests without him present."

"How lucky for them," he said with disdain. "They aren't actual toys. Does he realize that? Besides, he should share his playthings with others sometimes."

Robert knew better than to think the henchman had any sympathy for the two people being held in the dungeons. "What do you want?"

"I want," he answered, punctuating it by taking the tray of food from his hands, "to have some fun with the pretty red haired thing he's keeping locked away in there."

"Jonathan said no!"

Stewart took the key ring off Robert's belt and sneered at him. "If you're so bent on protecting her, maybe you should do something. Otherwise, get out of my way, little man! You're just a servant, not the master!"

He then let himself into the cell where Ginny was staying. He looked at her so long, he almost forgot to bring the tray over to her. She recognized him for the threat he was, and she subtly pulled at her wrist shackles while she calculated the odds of her escape.

###

In his cell, Moony raged in possessive anger. He could feel that someone was with the girl, and she was _his_. He had marked and claimed her for himself! He had done so under the full moon as werewolves had done for centuries.

He felt it all as someone tried to touch her. Those were not his hands over the girl's luminescent flesh, groping her as artlessly as a boy trying to sneak his first feel of a woman's breast. That was not his tongue that licked her throat and across her skin and then curled around her nipple as a baby suckling life from his mother. That was not him, and that usurper didn't have the right to touch her.

He growled low in his throat, a sound that might have surprised those who knew only the mild-mannered Remus Lupin with the perpetually slight smile. It was enough that Robert, who was passing by, looked inquisitively into the cell from the small window in the door. The werewolf had made little noise as a human as far as the butler could observe. Moss's man would have dismissed it as a random anomaly had not the growl increased as the sounds of the girl's distress with Stewart also increased.

When Moony's eyes flashed in his direction, it was enough to make Robert step back from the window and scurry uneasily out of the dungeon chamber to a different part of the house.

###

Stewart still persisted with Ginny, though he knew not the thoughts of the werewolf kept in a cell away from her. He knew the little thing under him had a spark and fight. It made him hard just watching her resist him.

"Tell me, girlie. Have you ever been touched? You don't have the body of an innocent," he said as he squeezed her breast. "You have the body of an angel from heaven. Too bad I plan on doing unspeakably sinful things to you."

He opened the belt fastening the pants underneath his robes and pulled down his trousers to reveal his erection before he came closer to her to try to further defile her. Her hands had been in chains so she could not fight off his advances with fists, but her legs were free. She made to kick him, but he laughed at the trouble.

She squirmed away from him, fighting as much as she could, but he put his heavy weight on her and slid up her naked body until he was poised right on top of her. With one hand, he covered her mouth, and the other hand fumbled between them to get their bodies in position so he could enter her.

Ginny cried out even though she knew no one but Remus was listening. She had not yet become dead inside and accepting of all he would do. Some deep part of her still had hope that she might somehow be able to escape.

She closed her eyes from her attacker, feeling his body around hers and trying to penetrate inside her. He stopped when he got some resistance because, for all the kissing Ginny had done, she was still a virgin. The fact of this discovery excited him more, and he was practically crowing with laughter as he tried to push into her again and break that barrier.

It was sudden, sharp pain that she fought back with the only thing she had that was actually hers. A wave of flame engulfed her body and shoved out at her attacker, knocking him off of her.

He splayed on his back in an undignified fashion, but he failed to notice the fire that had knocked him off of her. Instead, he smiled at her as if he was supremely satisfied. He returned to her and pummeled into her with greater fury than he had before. Once he was satisfied with his own orgasm, Stewart righted his clothes and promised her he would come back to the cell many more times as long as Jonathan had her.

Once alone, she mourned for the violation of her body. In the outskirts of consciousness touching her mind, a protective werewolf seethed with a slow burning anger at Stewart for taking what rightfully belonged to him. Remus had no words yet to tell Ginny that Moony had chosen her for his own. He only had the complete conviction that it was so. He had done it when he'd bitten her on the night of the full moon even though her wolf scar would never show thanks to Jonathan's non-scarification charm.

###

In the early hours of the next morning while much of the world was still asleep, an insidious force crept into Lupin's dreams. In the past weeks since he had realized his mental connection with Ginny, he had seen fleeting images that had seemed out of place, but he thought they were there because he was going mad. He realized at that moment in the cell that perhaps those thoughts weren't his own after all, but an echo of Ginny's dream state.

Then he realized that as surely as he could hear her dreams and even see the vivid ones, she would likely be able to do the same for him if he were not careful. His head was a confusing enough of a place to be for one person, but to have another in there with access to secret and unadorned thoughts was frightening.

He tried to close his eyes and get what sleep he could, but the image kept coming back. It was a beautiful, smiling young man with dark hair and striking blue eyes. He had never seen this boy before, but he knew that Ginny had by the way her dream formed around him. He was her friend, and she gave him everything, leaving her heart like an open book. But then the mask started to slip, and his beautiful face could not hide the ugliness that was underneath. She tried to resist him. She tried, but she was too weak.

Remus thrashed as he felt her dream. He felt trapped in its power until he realized that it didn't belong to him. While that was a relief to him, he realized that it was not a mere case of dark imagination. For Ginny, that was a memory that haunted her.

He reached out his fingers on the floor in front of him as if he could reach out to brush all her fears away. He put a thought in her mind of one day he had seen her with her brothers playing Quidditch outside at The Burrow. He thought to her the memory of sunshine, happiness and people who loved her. He focused on it and kept sending it to her in hopes that it would make the darkness within her flee even if only for a little while.

Slowly, she came out of the dream of Tom to realize Remus was with her.

* * *

**A/N**: The song lyric for this chapter came from "People Are Like Suns" performed by Crowded House on the album _Time On Earth_.


	18. Black Thoughts

**CHAPTER 18:  
Black Thoughts**

_In a hope that comes to nothing because the liars have moved in  
And they believe their own dark medicine, believing it's good  
_~Neil Finn

When Ginny awoke, Lupin didn't ask her about Tom Riddle or the dreams that she obviously still had of him. He only volunteered, §If you ever want to talk to me about it, I will listen.§

It surprised him later, therefore, when she shared, §He is a darkness in my soul. I don't think he will ever go away even if I know he's dead and has no power over me.§

§I used to dream of the werewolf bite every night,§ he admitted. §I no longer do that, but it took me a long time to get there.§

§What helped?§ she asked.

§My friends James, Sirius and even Peter,§ he thought. §They loved me and thought that me being a werewolf was brilliant. At least for a while.§

The quietness with which he ended the thought made Ginny suspect there was still darkness in his soul, too, even if he was better at hiding it. She then distracted them both with a new piece of information.

§Remus, I made fire again yesterday. It was when that man… It was while he was here. I did it again, but you're right. It was instinct.§

She could not ignore the wave of anger that rushed from him to meet her when she mentioned Stewart. It surprised her that she mentioned him so freely, too, so close to dreaming of Tom, but it was all darkness and pain. What did it matter if she was already sharing one kind of pain with him?

§Do you remember how it felt?§ he asked hopefully. §I… I don't mean him touching you. I think that is something we will both have to lay aside for a while. When you made that fire, how did it feel coming out of you? What was different?§

§I don't think I could describe how it felt if I wanted to. It feels like a rush that passes through me. I can't control it.§

§Not yet, my dear,§ he thought with soft encouragement. §Remember how it feels and try to recreate it that feeling until your body becomes so familiar with it that it will be as easy to you as riding a broom. Have you ever gambled? Are you familiar with the Muggle game called poker?§

§Of course. I learned it from Fred and George. Why?§ She was not sure he how had made the leap from one topic to the other.

§Because you have to treat your power with strategy. As much as you want to hurt them right now, as much as _I_ want to hurt them, don't let on yet that you have an ace in the hole,§ he thought, using the gambling metaphor to complete his advice. §Your magic must have intent. It must be willful no matter how destructive it is.§

She sighed to herself and remembered the Professor Remus Lupin who taught her Defense Against the Dark Arts class in her second year and who was rather competent compared to most of the others. At least with DADA class, there were specific things that could be done to fight the darkness. There were incantations and precise wand movements. How could she be specific about wanting to create a fire? Did she tell herself she wanted a spot of hot tea today with some fire to make things perfectly toasty?

The sarcastic and unsure inner voice in her head stopped at the thought of tea. It focused on a remembered teacup partially full of tea that had gone from piping hot to room temperature while her brother was off doing other things. Ron had complained about it, and to shut him up, she just took it from him. She put the cup in her hands and willed it to be hot, and it was so. She had done that and had kept on doing it.

Ginny started to list to herself the number of known heat and fire accidents that happened around her, and like a good detective, she realized she had a pattern. She laughed out loud to herself in the cell at the surprise of it all. This wasn't magic that was new to her at all or a strange byproduct of Jonathan's moonlight spell. Her Elemental magic, as Remus had called it, was truly her own and had always been. She had just been conditioned to believe that it was not real.

That perked up the interest of Remus. He could feel her attitude shift. §What is it? What are you thinking?§

§I know what this is!§ she thought to him with a triumphant tone. §This was _my_ magic all along. I just don't know how to use it yet.§

§But you will,§ he agreed, her enthusiasm for it bringing a fleeting smile to his face.

The encouragement left Ginny with a purpose and distracted her mind for a short few seconds from the physical violation that Stewart had done to her. The thoughts didn't leave Remus, though, who found that he could not get it out of _his_ mind though he well wished it.

In some ways, he was both thankful and amazed at their ability to communicate with each other. It made no sense, but he could only assume it came from the first days of her torture when she could not use any part of her voice. She started screaming with her soul instead until she found him, and that had changed him without leaving any obvious marks.

It changed him that now he wanted her for himself, something that filled him with confusion and dismay. He said Moony wanted her, and in truth the werewolf did. But that was only an excuse he told himself to avoid guilt. It was easy to attribute the rougher instinctual parts of his personality to his werewolf nature, but it was not that he had distinct multiple personalities. He and his werewolf were the same being all the time, and that was a hard fact to admit to himself sometimes. It required him to realize he was neither as kind nor as patient or any of those other positive attributes as the man he wished to be.

The point was that he could not reconcile the opposing views in his head about Ginny. He hoped whatever obsession he had with her would soon pass because it didn't feel healthy or appropriate. It made him no better than the thug who craved her and took her without asking. Maybe when they left this forsaken place or when the Order found them, maybe then he would forget her and return to the walking wounded version of normal that he had been for most of his adult life.

It was Sirius, he concluded. Why did it always have to go back to Sirius? Because Sirius had been his one true love during his school years and through the first of his adulthood. But when Sirius betrayed them, or so they had thought at the time, the soul-gouging hurt could not be healed. He could not understand how someone he thought he knew so well could betray all of them as he had done. The guilt he felt after he learned of Black's true innocence was an albatross he wore around his neck until his death behind the veil.

§You think too much, Remus,§ Ginny gently teased him.

§That's about all there is to do here,§ he sent back wryly, §unless you'd like to play a game of count the vermin in the straw.§

She found it humorous as he had intended, and after more mutual silence he asked her how she knew he was thinking too much.

§Because you _do_ think too much,§ she declared, §and you were thinking loudly. I could feel that you were struggling with something.§

§It was just a memory,§ he said without explaining it further. Haunting memories was something she knew too well. To himself he thought back to the first time as boys turning into men that he and Sirius had been intimate with each other.

.

**Hogwarts, Marauders' 6th Year, late Winter**

Remus was undressing in his room alone. As far as he could remember Sirius was off by himself and pointedly avoiding him. Peter and James were pestering Lily Evans because James was determined to win her over with his ample charms. Remus thought it was going to take a long time because Lily was equally determined not to be wooed.

He felt the door of their shared dorm room open, and he turned to look over his shoulder at Sirius. It was Sirius, his best friend, the one who made him so angry, and the one who loved him in more than just a brotherly fashion. By god if Remus didn't feel uncomfortable around him, and he realized after Black's angry declaration weeks previous that it was because he was dangerously close to returning the same feelings.

"Hi," Sirius said eloquently as he shuffled his feet.

"Hi," Remus answered back, staring at him.

The discomfort in the room was palpable as neither knew what to say to each other. They were both looking at each other without trying to make it obvious. Remus realized how much he'd been missing Sirius, when the other boy began to speak.

"Look, Moony, I want to be friends again," Sirius said in one of his few moments of letting down his detached veneer.

"Padfoot, would you just _shut up_!" Remus said in annoyance once the ice had been broken.

Sirius looked over at him and grimaced. "Fine," he muttered before his defenses returned.

Remus leveled him a gaze as he rested his hands on his hips. Finally, coming to a decision within himself, Lupin reached out to pull Sirius closer and he kissed him fully on the mouth.

Even though Black had been the first to declare his intentions, he stiffened in surprise at Moony's touch because he had been expecting complete rejection. When Sirius realized he'd gotten the opportunity he'd wanted, he quickly kissed him back hard. In their enthusiasm, they both fell on the bed, but they didn't stop kissing each other.

Finally, Sirius lifted up his head and said breathlessly, "I want to kiss you more. All over." He gave a look indicating the length of Lupin's torso.

Remus blushed at the thought, but he realized he did want this. He stood up and slowly removed his trousers as Sirius watched him like a ravenously hungry man.

"Aren't you going to take your clothes off?" he asked softly as Sirius stared at him in wonder.

"No," he said in low tones and looked up to the other boy's face.

Remus went back to the bed as Sirius pounced on him and kissed him some more, enjoying the taste of his mouth and his skin under his hands. Sirius had always felt territorial that Remus was his werewolf, and now he was claiming him in the most primal way he knew.

As Black trailed kisses down his throat and chest, Lupin couldn't help feel a bit ticklish. Remus was unable to stop the sensation, and he had the most absurd thoughts pounding in his head.

"I know why you're Animagus form is a dog!" he finally laughed out loud.

Sirius stilled his efforts and asked uncomfortably, "Why is that?"

"Because you're a good licker!" Remus replied as he squirmed under Black's tongue.

Padfoot growled back at him and held him down to make him stop moving. Then he continued to move down his body.

Remus stopped wiggling, but he was still highly sensitive. He started breathing shallowly realizing that this definitely was going to happen. It wasn't even that it was the first time he'd been on the receiving end of such delicious torture. Slytherin girls had already given him quite the education on giving and receiving oral sex. But this was different, and he felt like he was about to explode. Then again, that was pretty much the point of doing it, he thought wildly to himself.

He was caught up in the rush that this was _Sirius_ doing this to him until finally he thought about it no more. He just gave over to the sensations that were pounding through his body. Remus had wound his hands in Black's hair as he was licking him senseless. Sirius worked his tongue and hands over Remus until he was a whimpering puppy, which was just the way Sirius wanted him. Finally at the point of release when Remus felt that he could hold back no longer, he let himself go with a gasp of painful perfect pleasure and yanked hard on Black's hair.

Sirius eyed Remus breathing heavily on the bed in his post orgasm sheen. Knowing that he had done this to him made the dark haired boy feel a supreme carnal satisfaction. "I'm going to have a right headache from that hair pulling, Moony. But I'd have to say it was worth it," he said with one of his huge slow and sexy smiles.

Remus was still feeling the sensations all over him and nodded weakly. He didn't even want to try speech at that moment. Before his passion-muddled mind could think further, he heard the sounds of voices in front of their door. Reacting quickly, he pulled up his coverings and almost unseated Sirius in the process, but it was just in time before James and Peter walked into their room.

"And then I told Evans. I said..."

"You didn't!" Peter interrupted James in his story.

"I did!" James shouted in laughter about whatever it was that he had told Lily.

Both boys stopped their laughing to look at the strange pair who had recently been conspicuously avoiding each other's company. Black was sitting at the foot of Lupin's bed fully clothed and looking down at his feet. Remus was under the covers with the blankets pulled up to his chin as if he were child from the children's story cowering from the big bad wolf.

James looked at the very disheveled Sirius and commented dryly, "You look like you just had sex."

Sirius gave a short laugh back to him and said, "I _always_ look like I've just had sex."

"True," James said as both he and Peter then focused their attentions on Remus.

"What happened to you?" asked Peter. "You're all red and flushed like you've got a fever."

"It's been hot in here," Remus answered lamely.

"No, it's fine in here, maybe even a little cold. Do you need to go to the hospital wing?" James asked.

"No! I'm fine," Remus answered in a rush, pulling the covers tighter to his neck.

Sirius continued to sit at the foot of the bed acting as if nothing out of the unusual had happened between them just before their friends came back to the room. His head was bowed and his dark hair fell all around his face, hiding him from Remus. James and Peter didn't notice that Remus had been staring at Sirius because they were finishing the story of whatever antics James had done with Lily Evans.

As the one pair continued their conversation, Sirius dipped his head and turned it so only Remus could see his face. He decided to tease him by licking his lips slowly to remind him of what had happened moments ago. Lupin growled at him in frustration and kicked the other boy off the bed.

Sirius laughed in satisfaction as he fell to the floor. Provoking Remus in front of the others had been worth it just to see his show of emotion. James and Peter gave the pair questioning looks, but no answers were given. Fighting amongst the friends wasn't that unusual of an activity, so the temporary curiosity over it soon passed.

###

During her captivity, there would have been few instances that Ginny actually welcomed the sight of Jonathan Moss, but he inadvertently came to her rescue the day after her dream of Tom. Stewart came skulking to her cell as if he wanted to have a repeat of what had just happened with him only two days ago. He'd already opened his trousers and was standing in front of her slowly masturbating and looking at her in a sickly satisfied way.

Ginny softly pulled at her wrist restraints again to see if they had any give to them. As she watched the man pondering how he was going to hurt her again, she imagined a very hot cup of tea. She thought back to that innocent day with Ron and Harry that was only two short months ago. She tried to use a level head to warm the metal so it was soft enough to bend, but the threat in front of her kept her attention divided.

Stewart was clearly enjoying touching himself and had nearly reached his climax when they both heard Jonathan's voice singing as he walked near them in the dungeon hallway. It was yet another one of his insipid children's songs, but it offered Ginny a sweet relief from Stewart who hurriedly fixed his clothes without having had the satisfaction of orgasm. The man watched the door as Moss almost literally danced into the cell.

"Hello, my scarlet witch," he said pleasantly. To Stewart he was less pleasant. "What are you doing here?"

"I was helping Robert," he lied. "I came to get the dirty dishes." The wizard Summoned Ginny's food dishes as if to prove it and stood holding them with a guilty look on his face.

"Leave. Go home to your family, whoever they are. I don't need you again until Sunday," Moss stated and dismissed him with one of his immaculately gloved hands.

The man scurried away like the vermin he was while Ginny fearfully questioned, "Sunday?"

"Ah, yes, Sunday, which will be the new moon. I'm going to do my Full Moonlight Spell again when the moon is at its darkest point. It is true that perhaps I was too eager to test everything on you. I have occasionally been accused of being a victim of hubris," he said as he splayed his hand across his chest, "but I am not too vain to learn.

"Not to worry, though, my lovely Red. This time it will be your friend the werewolf. Did you even know we had a werewolf with us? It's been hard to tell what you know since you've been in and out of sickness so long since you've been with us. Unfortunately, that doesn't make you a very interesting guest. You come here but can't play. You mooch all our food. I don't think I should have invited you," he said as if all the torture he had done to her was perfectly normal.

"You could let us go," she suggested back in the same light tone that he had been using. "It would keep us from inconveniencing you further."

To that, Jonathan threw his head back and laughed exaggeratedly. "Oh, I'm afraid not. I need your friend to help me perfect my spell, and I can't have one of you leaving without the other. How civil would that be? Besides, none of my guests ever leave here the same way they came."

He crouched down low in front of her and stared in her eyes as if to give meaning and import to the words. Ginny thought that must have meant that none of his guests ever left the manor alive.

"Now let me see you," he said as he got closer.

His hands were still covered with his leather gloves as he looked at her neck and shoulder where Moony had given her the bite. He talked to himself about how skilled his spells were and how they surprised even him sometimes. He had assumed the non-scarification spell had finally acted to heal her skin. He also posited that it could have been an effect of the Full Moonlight Spell, and he was completely thrilled with the result.

"You look beautiful," he said, but his voice was clinical and not lascivious. Oddly, Ginny felt like she had just been examined by a Healer instead of inspected by a mad man. "It's your hair that is so striking and lovely, too. Is that a family trait?"

She merely nodded her answer, and after that he admonished in an almost motherly tone, "You should eat, though. It's a rude guest who refuses the food a host brings."

To emphasize his point, he fingered her ribs and down to her waist where it was becoming obvious that she had lost weight and was continuing to do so.

"It's an inconsiderate host who doesn't bring his guest something that she will like," she suggested without any obvious aggression as she tried to play his word game. In truth, she hated the porridge she was given and had never liked it. She vowed to herself that when she escaped this dungeon, she would never eat it again.

"And what would you like?" he asked, intrigued.

Looking down at herself pointedly, she said, "Some clothes might be nice."

"Not something I have, my dear," he said and blinked without guile.

"Oh, a fashionable wizard like you surely has some connections. You could have your man get me something, or you could Transfigure it, I'm sure. You are a clever wizard, aren't you?" she asked as she pulled on her wrist shackle.

Jonathan smiled at her feeing very pleased. "I think it is you who is clever. Because you have amused me this once, I will give you what you ask."

He took off the traveling cloak that he had worn into the chamber. With a few uttered words of incantation and a flick of his wand, he Transfigured the cloak into a remarkably pretty dress Ginny could wear. He tossed it to her.

"Thank you," she said in surprise. Somehow she hadn't expected him to do anything.

"You see? That's how it's done," he nodded at her. "And now I must prepare to force a transformation on a werewolf during a new moon. Just imagine how exciting it will be!"

"Very, I'm sure," she said. Pulling at her wrist shackle again with more force, she dared ask, "Could you? I can't dress myself without my hands being free. Surely you understand."

Jonathan's indulgence of her had nearly run to the end of its course. He nodded once to her wrists and released them with a spell once he had safely gotten to the door.

###

On the last Saturday of the month, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was practicing all the plays in the book, and Harry was not giving his team members any slack. For the team as a whole, the loss of Ginny meant that they were doing back-breaking work for a sport that few were enjoying lately. Even Ron's indefatigable joy of all things Quidditch was taking a serious beating.

"Harry, please! We've done everything!" he pleaded.

"And we'll do it again!" Potter started to declare.

Weasley flew his broom over to his team captain and his best friend. "Look, we're tired and hungry. We're ready for the showers, and we've practiced as much as we can without falling off our brooms. Come _on_!"

Harry glared at him, which caused Ron to say, "Maybe you should take your anger out with some wizard duels or something for Dumbledore's Army."

He sighed and then nodded his agreement. There wasn't much more he could do with the team that they hadn't already been through multiple times already, so he gave them the signal to land.

The Gryffindor house team landed on the ground and were greeted by Luna, who was a frequent visitor, and Artemis who had started dating Hobie. Potter's knee jerk reaction was to be annoyed by the visitors, but that was quickly covered by curiosity. Neville had told him that he should look in unusual places when seeking answers about Ginny, and who was more unusual than Luna Lovegood?

"Luna!" he greeted over enthusiastically. "Have you heard anything about Ginny? Your dad has reporters for his paper all over, right? Do you think one of them might have heard something?"

Ron darted looks to Harry. He was tired from the practice, and it was his baby sister they were discussing. He felt guilty to be talked around as if he wasn't hurting for her loss. Even when she was a thorn in his side, she was still _his_ thorn in his side.

"I miss her, too, Harry," he said.

Potter was in mid-discussion with Luna, and he turned his open mouth to Ron in surprise. "Nobody said you didn't. If she comes back, she's back for all of us."

"I know, but it sure feels like everyone thinks I don't care. I do, Harry! Mum keeps writing letters to Percy to see if he can help. Bill is asking his job contacts in case anyone has heard anything. Fred and George are offering a reward, and they've plastered her picture all over Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. And…"

"I already know that, Ron," he replied. "I just want Luna's help."

"Well don't think we're not trying, because we are! I know it's been nearly a month, but she's got to be out there somewhere. She's got to!" he insisted.

"Go take a shower," he ordered in his team captain authoritative voice. "I'm going to finish talking to Luna."

Ron hesitated before walking away. The tips of his ears were bright red as the only indication of what he was feeling. Meanwhile, the blonde girl dreamily watched the conversation without interrupting it. She had been Ginny's neighbor all her life and a real friend in recent years. She knew how important the lone Weasley girl was to everyone.

"Harry, of course I can have my father look for her. We have the best reporter network in the entire country," she stated and emphasized her fact by mentioning some obscure animal they had managed to find. Luna was actually rather proud of the magical cryptozoology the _Quibbler_ staff had done.

"Well, I just think we have to keep trying," he said.

She was quiet for a long time but mentioned in her off hand airy way, "Have you thought of the Mirror of Erised? If it shows your deepest desire and you desire to find Ginny, then wouldn't that work?"

Harry shook his head sadly. He had considered finding the mirror again, but he was afraid about what he might see if he looked this time. He might see Ginny in danger, or he might not see Ginny at all and instead be trapped by the same image of his parents that used to accompany him. He was not sure which one was worse, but they were not options for him.

"Please ask your father again, Luna," he finally said. "Maybe with Christmas coming up and people being out more… Well, maybe one of the reporters will find a clue."

"I will," she said and watched as he tiredly walked to the locker room for a shower.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter comes from "Pour Le Monde" performed by Crowded House on the album _Time On Earth_.


	19. Same Old New Moon

**CHAPTER 19:  
Same Old New Moon**

_Eyes open wide, but all I see is black  
You thought I was all right, but just wait 'til you get back  
_~Neil Finn

§Why do I keep craving _tea_?§ Remus asked Ginny that Saturday evening.

He looked out of his cell window as he asked, and there was the thinnest thread of light by the moon. Jonathan would find him tomorrow to perform the Full Moonlight Spell. He involuntarily shivered. The moon was a familiar enemy, but Jonathan was not. As the saying went, he preferred the devil he knew.

§Is that a hint that I'm thinking too loudly?§ Ginny asked humorously.

With a mental sigh, he told her, §I never knew you liked tea so much. It's a little disturbing.§

To that she twittered with laughter that sounded inside his head and even echoed from her chamber somewhere else on the floor. The sound drew him away from the window to his door to investigate further. The laughter was as delightful as ambrosia and as unexpected

§I don't like tea as much as Ron does, but you did tell me to remember how it felt to make fire. I'm practicing,§ she explained. §I think you should do the same.§

§Practice what? If I had a tea set, I would make you the best cuppa you ever had, but alas that is not so,§ he replied.

§Later,§ she assured him. §And I mean you should practice your wolf form. You know I'm right.§

§I told you I'm too old to learn that. You don't just become an Animagus at thirty-seven years old, Ginny.§

§Huh. So that's how old you are.§ There were tones of both distraction and teasing in her mental voice. It was a strange combination.

He sighed to himself. They had discussed it several times in the past few days, and he wasn't sure why it was an idea that she had latched onto so strongly. Ginny's logic was that voluntarily becoming a wolf and doing it often could make his monthly transformations easier. Certainly, already being a werewolf would give him more advantage than an attempted Animagus without any previous experience. She thought he had to use his strengths, just as Nymphadora Tonks did as a Metamorphmagus.

While the comparison to Tonks irritated him, it had been effective enough to get him to consider her suggestion instead of dismissing it out of hand. He felt that odd mix of feelings that many adults get upon new endeavors. He was both afraid to succeed and afraid to fail. He didn't want to explain either position to her. Instead, he deflected attention by pointing out Jonathan was going to help him get a lot of practice changing very soon.

Then she had the audacity to point out that if he controlled his own changes he would be able to get around Jonathan's scheme by messing with the timetable of his spell. Unfortunately, that, too, was true. He had looked down at his human hands after she suggested it, and while opposable thumbs were a truly wonderful thing, a wolf's paw would be able to slip out of the shackles and perhaps right out of this dungeon to freedom.

Yes, he did know she was right, but why did she have to be so… so… frustratingly _right_?

§Remus. Feel this,§ she thought to him, innocently interrupting his internal dialogue.

Before he could ask her what she meant, he felt the temperature around his body pleasantly warm him. It was like a caress all over, and he whimpered at the feel of it. Yes, this was her Elemental power, and she was going to master it. He had no doubt about it now, even if he didn't know when she would be in full control of it. So he leaned into the warmth as long as it was there and missed it terribly when it was gone.

The response image he'd transmitted to her was one of approving pleasure. The familiarity of it was what surprised Ginny and made her abruptly stop sending him her heat. The fact that it worked on him was in itself not a surprise because she had considered them tethered to each other with the same invisible connection. Feeling his reaction from both his and her perspectives simultaneously was the surprise that could send her reeling.

His pleasure reaction reminded her of thoughts of his, memories perhaps, that had been seeping into her consciousness. Naturally, if she had unintentionally given him access to Tom, then he had given her access to something or someone from his past. It was just embarrassing for her to think of him as a being with a sensual past.

He had been her teacher! He wasn't supposed to enjoy the same physical pleasures they all did. She reasoned with herself that he was supposed to be above it all, but the fleeting images of his dreams indicated otherwise.

§Why'd you stop? I was enjoying that,§ he cajoled.

§I know,§ she replied in a guarded tone.

With a sigh in his mental tone, §What is it, Ginny?§

She was hesitant to answer, though when she did, the thoughts came in a rush. §You're so wide open sometimes, and I don't know how to defend myself against that! I can hate these men. I can hate this place. But I can't hate you, and sometimes it's all too much. You confuse me, Remus.§

He laughed softly in deprecation, surprised that there was one person in the world who honestly considered him to be "wide open." §Welcome to my head. Sometimes I confuse myself.§

The silence between them continued, though Ginny didn't return to thoughts of tea and warming. Instead, she had the mental image, Lupin's mental image, of being kissed heartily by Sirius Black. A tear of frustration slipped down her face because it compounded her physical unease that came from being attacked by Stewart. As she had told the werewolf, she had defenses against her captivity and her captors, but none against him. She only had his fleeting assurance that he would not harm her as Tom had.

§I think we need to talk,§ she thought to him many minutes later with as much gravitas as she could muster. She was going to screw up her Gryffindor courage and plunge forward.

§This sounds ominous. Will you be sending me to bed without my supper?§ he retorted. Eventually Remus relented. §Yes, we should talk. Is there something you want to know?§

§Sirius Black. What was he to you? I've heard whispers and rumors both before and after his death. People say things, but _you_ don't say anything at all. You keep everything so close to the bone, but I was with you the night he died, Remus. I _saw_ you,§ she reminded him.

He was so quiet after she asked him that Ginny thought he was not going to answer her. Instead, he was trying to find the simplest explanation for a complicated relationship.

§He was my dear friend, but we weren't best friends. He actually loved James more than me if it was all left to the realm of friendship, and I think James felt the same way about him. That, however, is a different story for a different time.§ He paused as if remembering it and then strengthened himself to tell her the next part of his history.

§He was my lover, and that, I assume, is part of the rumors and whispers you have heard. We'd been together since our sixth year of Hogwarts, but we parted around the time of Harry's birth over dark reasons and misunderstandings. We only found each other again after my teaching year and were trying to build something together again. It was good until I lost him.§

§I'm sorry, Remus,§ she replied with a soft mental voice that implied comfort.

§Well, consider yourself special, Miss Weasley. I will never have this conversation with anyone else ever again. As a rule, I keep my private life private, and that includes nosy questions about my physical or emotional endeavors,§ he concluded with as light of a tone as he could give words heavy with meaning.

§But have you ever been with any girls?§ The thought flew from her mind faster than she could restrain it, and she was embarrassed that it had slipped from her unbidden.

§Yes, I have! Many of them, in fact,§ he answered with a surprisingly laughing tone. When his amusement passed, he shared one last thought on the subject, §We love who we love, whether or not it is logical to do so. I couldn't resist loving Sirius if I had tried.§

§Well, thank you,§ she replied at last. §At least now it will make overhearing your memories of him easier for me to bear.§

Her admission confirmed the fear he had, and he was deeply sorry to have burdened her with his mental baggage. He removed his thoughts from hers, wishing to have time alone to put himself back together.

###

On Sunday the activity in Moss Manor was at a high point in preparation for another attempt at Jonathan's Full Moonlight Spell. He was reviewing with his men the revised instructions for the spell, and he was paying special attention to Nathaniel, who he suspected was the reason the spell didn't completely take on their first attempt with Ginny. They were at a stopping point before the entire ceremony would begin in earnest.

"So, boss, I just want to…" Frank started, walking backwards unsurely and motioning behind him with his thumb.

"You want to what? Go play with that werewolf?" Moss asked. Frank had not done well to disguise his intentions toward the prisoner in the two weeks they had him.

"Yes," he admitted and wiggled like a little boy who had to use the toilet.

Jonathan glowered at him and then gave him dismissive permission. "Do what you want as long as you are done by the time we need to retrieve him. And you can not do anything to him that would get in the way of my spell. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. Mr. Moss, sir," the lackey agreed with relief before running to the dungeon with lecherous thoughts on the brain.

Once he got there, Frank let himself into Moony's cell and stared at the werewolf who was staring back at him in disdain.

"I take it that it's not time for my spa treatment yet. So why are you here?" he prodded.

"I'm here to play," he said as he walked closer, his hands fumbling at his robes. "You know how to play, don't you?"

"I do, but not with you," he said with a smirk. The smirk became a full on laugh when he saw Frank had exposed himself. "Am I supposed to be impressed? With _that_?"

"Oh, you're going to suck me off. That's what you're going to do," he threatened and shoved Lupin's face into his groin.

At first he stilled with resistance, but then he gave in to coercion. The werewolf began kissing his thighs, making Frank beg for more. When he looked down to see the progress, his silvered eyes were mocking him with laugher. He whimpered in painful pleasure when the werewolf wrapped his mouth around his erection and teased him with a tongue that must have had its own magic. Frank could have spilled his seed then like an inexperienced boy on his first date. The skill Remus had with his mouth was enough to make the minion want to cry out in thanks to the gods of many pantheons.

It was the deep growl and firm set of teeth that let Frank know his pleasure was going to be short-lived. The henchman looked down to see a decidedly devilish smile and challenge on Moony's face.

"Let me go," he breathed heavily.

Instead of doing that, Lupin toyed with him by taking another lick along his length to remind him of the precarious position he was in. One thing he did not do was let go. So Frank kicked him, which caused him to open his mouth and release him. He followed it with gales of laughter to infuriate the man for even trying that.

"I should have just bitten it off," Remus said in that same amused and not at all afraid voice he'd been using, "but I don't like the taste of blood in my mouth."

Angrily, Frank backhanded him across the face, and he fell back to the floor, still laughing at him.

"I will get you for this, werewolf. Just see if I don't," he hissed.

"Not if I get you first," he sing-songed back to him merrily.

It was a reaction so reminiscent of Jonathan in that moment, that Frank took a truly fearful step back. He then turned and fled from the cell, not to be seen again until the time in the early evening when Remus was gathered for the Full Moonlight Spell.

###

At dusk, Stewart and Theo with no sign of Frank came to Lupin's cell to bring him to the big room where Jonathan and all his men would perform the Full Moonlight Spell. As Stewart propped him up and took him out to the hallway, Remus stared at him with such vicious hate over what he had done to Ginny that the other man couldn't ignore it.

"What are you looking at?" he challenged.

"A dead man," Remus said with chilling calm. "I'm going to kill you. You know that, right?"

Stewart would be a liar to deny the shiver of ice cold fear that ran up and down his spine at his words. The werewolf was too serene in his declaration of intent not to be taken seriously. Instead of verbally responding, he pushed him to march forward as Theo flanked the other side of him.

The mistake Stewart had made was to be distracted enough to march him past the cell where they had been keeping Ginny. Remus perked up as he felt himself getting nearer to her. She got up from her pallet and ran to the window in her cell door to see him as he came by.

He saw her, the bottom of her face with soft pink lips and licks of her flame colored hair falling around her shoulders, and then he feinted left to lunge to her door. She put her left arm through the little window to try to touch his face. He took her hand and held it to his cheek while he dropped a kiss to the pulse at her wrist.

The men tried to pull him back from her, but not before they looked in each other's eyes. His shown quicksilver as they did when his wolf nature was dominant, and Ginny's were the burnished brown of the flames burning inside her. Once they had succeeded in taking him, he stared back to the hand that was still outstretched after him from her cell window.

###

While Ginny could have practiced her fire magic when everyone else in the manor was occupied with Remus, she couldn't desert him. She did not give him words, but she stayed eavesdropping within his conscious as well as she could.

§I'll be okay,§ he sighed into the thought of her.

§I know you will,§ she replied, the sense of him almost filling her to bursting. The simple stolen touch had meant so much. It had given her a strange sense of hope.

He was strapped on to the table with magical chains that would change shape to accommodate for the physical change he would go through if it were to work. Jonathan placed the men in a circle around the table in the same sixty degree spacing as they had used when the spell was performed on Ginny, but it was Robert who would close the circle this time. They were also wearing dark goggles as a precaution in case there would be another intense flash of light just like had happened with the first spell attempt.

One by one the men began the incantation that would bring him from the appearance of a human male to that of a fully transformed werewolf. As each piece of the spell was added, his body changed clearly and slowly. It was almost kinder than the real moon that ripped him apart, but it was definitely simulated moonlight. He felt every change and twist and turn of his body. He could catalog it with details at length.

He held on to the thought of Ginny and what remained of his mind. She was his anchor as he fought to keep control of all that was Remus and human about himself. It was a losing battle as he felt his physical and mental strength crumbling.

§Let go if you must. I will still be here,§ she thought to him.

And then he let go of his anchor and drifted into the black of a werewolf mind. She remained there, buoying him as protectively as she could.

In the play room, Jonathan crowed triumphantly at the completion of the spell. The werewolf was shaking on the table, but he was most definitely a werewolf, and it was most definitely the new moon outside in the sky.

Leaning down beside his now furry ear, Moss taunted, "I did it. I mastered you. No one else has ever done this before, but _I_ did it. Remember this day, werewolf."

Ginny heard the words through Lupin's muddled mental haze, and she could not let Jonathan think he had won. She could not let him harm that which was hers, and in this moment she knew that Remus Lupin was hers to protect.

Focusing her sense of fire to the middle of Moony's being, she remembered the feeling of artificial moonlight as it had made her change into the werewolf she had briefly been. She concentrated on that light, which did not harm her but suffocated Remus. With slowly burning intensity she started building the spark of her fire she had unknowingly placed within him when he had bitten her and consumed her life's blood on the previous full moon.

The spark continued to burn and grow as she pushed outward on all sides, increasing the flame within him. The moonlight tried to push in around her, but she stood firm at the border beyond which danger was not allowed to pass. She thought again to consume him completely, as he had done to her, because to do so would free him.

A drop of blood trickled down her nose as she worked from within her cell, concentrating on his body in a completely different room far away from her. The others did not know of this fight. Instead, they saw light ripple over the body of the werewolf and that he started to slowly change back. It looked as if the artificial moonlight was not strong enough to make the physical form stay manifested.

"No!" Jonathan shrieked. "My spell was perfect!"

He directed his men to get back to their posts and begin the incantation again. When they spoke the words, their wands started shaking too hard for them to control. They held on with two hands, looking for Jonathan for cues as how to proceed, but it was of no use. The werewolf had returned to his human form and seemed to be immune to any more forced transformations.

"Damn it!" Moss swore, throwing down the wand that had burned his hands. Had he looked, he would have seen that the wands the other men had used had all done the same to their owners, too.

"Take him to his cell and throw him in there until I can figure out what to do with him," he ordered.

"Why don't you just kill him?" Theo suggested.

The disheveled looking Jonathan made a nasty face as if he was considering it. Then he waved them off with one of his burned hands. He left the men to clean up the mess while he went up the stairs to the public part of his mansion to find some ointment.

###

After Lupin was returned to his cell, he fell into a deep sleep, and he dreamed. Some of his dreams were random imagination, but other times his dreams were real. He remembered earlier innocent times before Sirius and the First War had broken his heart.

He drifted from thought to thought, and some of them Ginny heard. This time when she experienced his thoughts like an open book, they didn't batter her or harm her. She chose to save him. She chose to save him right back, her instinct seemed to say, as he had done for her.

He came from his dreaming depths back up to consciousness near morning when Jonathan was still upstairs getting ready for a Monday of work at Gringotts Wizard Bank. The first broadcast thought of his that Ginny felt was his surprise at being back in his cell and not on four furry legs.

§You're still a werewolf. You're just a better werewolf now,§ she thought smugly.

§What happened?§ he asked with his head feeling like he had the hangover of the century.

§Jonathan's spell worked, and you changed. But I fought it, Remus. I fought it and won,§ she declared.

He still felt weak, and his mind struggled to make sense with what she had told him. §But how? What did you _do_?§

§I saved you,§ she stated simply. §I am the sunlight in your veins, Remus Lupin.§

He looked at his arms in wonder as if to see the sunlight she mentioned, and he asked himself aloud, "But how?"

§When you were a werewolf, you drank my blood, so a part of me literally lives within you. I just had to find it. It is part of the connection we share, and I couldn't allow him to hurt you. I will _never_ allow him to hurt you again,§ she thought with dangerously protective edge. §Rest now. I can still feel your exhaustion.§

His eyelids were heavy with the weight of that truth. He gave into the pull of a sleep without dreams. The last smoky ephemeral whisper of words in his mind before he drifted away was, _Love you_.

And Remus didn't know if he was saying them or receiving them.

###

**Hogwarts, Marauders' 6th Year, Spring**

It was true that Peter wasn't the most academically gifted one of the Marauders, but he was a keen observer of human nature. Maybe it was because people often didn't take him seriously that he was able to be in several different situations without calling attention to himself. He found himself in one of the most shocking situations of his seventeen-year-old life when he went to the sixth year dorm room one spring afternoon.

He entered the room quietly because that was the Wormtail thing to do. He heard noises of heavy breathing and struggle coming from the vicinity of Padfoot's bed. The boys had often brought a willing conquest or two up to their room, so that in itself was nothing new. Peter hadn't seen Sirius giving any overt attentions to any particular girl lately, so being a bit of a voyeur he decided to go investigate and see who it was.

Pulling back the curtain slightly, he saw something that immediately made him feel like all the air had rushed out of his lungs. Sirius was on the bed, but it was no girl with him. It was Remus, and they were most definitely, if not creatively, having sex with each other. Remus had Sirius down on his knees and was pulling him by the hair while he thrust into him. Judging from the expression on his face, Black was enjoying letting the werewolf wield power over him.

Peter immediately closed the curtain and retreated from the room as fast as possible. He ran out of the castle and went to the lake where he could walk and have some fresh air. He had hoped to clear the images out of his mind, but he kept seeing it no matter how hard he tried to resist it.

"Wormtail, what's with you?" James asked a while later as he came over to where Peter was hyperventilating at the lake.

"Remus and Sirius..." he said with a scrunched up look on his face and turned away from James.

"Are they still fighting?" he asked. The tension between their friends had been palpable for months and it had put a strain on the quartet as a whole.

Peter laughed ironically and gave James a pointed look. "You could say that! That is, if shagging each other like rabbits is the same thing as fighting!"

"NO!" James protested, wrinkling his nose with disgust and disbelief. "That just can't be!"

"Prongs, I saw it myself just now. Do you need me to take you up to our dorm to show you?" he said emphatically.

"Are you trying to prank me?" Potter asked cautiously. He knew his friends, and maybe this time they were trying to get at him.

Peter rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I wouldn't joke about something like this. Bring your invisibility cloak, just in case."

Normally Potter's cloak would have been in his room, but this time it was stowed away by the Whomping Willow. The boys retrieved the cloak and made their way back up to their room in Gryffindor Tower.

James stopped at the door to ask Peter again if he was pulling a prank. Pettigrew shook his head that he wasn't and told him to go inside and see for himself. Potter covered himself in the cloak and slipped inside the room undetected, leaving Wormtail to stand guard outside the door.

Once inside the room he walked over to Black's four-poster bed where the curtains had been drawn. Lightly pulling the fabric aside, he saw the evidence that Peter had told him the truth. There together were Remus and Sirius naked and wrapped in each others arms. He thought they might have been sleeping until Sirius stirred to give Remus a kiss and run his hands all over the other boy's naked body.

Potter crept away from them and slipped back outside the door to where Peter was waiting.

"Well? What did I tell you!" he said to James in accusation.

Prongs looked green as he nodded. "You were right."

They descended the stairs not sure how they were going to handle this revelation.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric quote for this chapter is from "Missing Person" performed by Split Enz on the album _True Colours_.


	20. Small Discoveries

**CHAPTER 20:  
Small Discoveries**

_When I got up today I felt so much brighter  
My head was swimming with delight and I told her  
_~Neil Finn

**December 1, Gringotts Wizarding Bank**

On the first Monday morning after he had performed the Full Moonlight Spell on his captive werewolf, Jonathan was preparing papers on his desk at Gringotts to take to the goblins when something bright and familiar caught his eye. He looked up and saw someone walking past his office. Getting up from his desk and looking out his door, he frowned as he tried to place just who the red-haired man was.

"Bill!" he finally said in recognition as the oldest Weasley brother was at the end of the corridor.

Weasley stopped walking and turned to the sound of the voice. Jonathan waved in response and stepped out of his office so Bill could see him.

"Cheers!" the curse breaker greeted back in that easy familiarity he had with all people.

Moss curiously came out to talk to him. It was the enticing pull of that familiar shade of red hair. "Where are you headed?"

He shrugged. "I have to turn in some paperwork about the curses, and then I'm off to meet my dad for an early lunch."

"I know about paperwork," he said with a smile as he showed the wad of parchments in his bandaged hand. "_I_ think a pint would be a lovely idea about now, but first I have to get my own parchments in to the goblins."

Moss joined him in the hallway subtly eyeing Bill up as they both walked to the offices where the goblins were taking the parchments. Bill made friendly conversation as he was walking.

"If you don't have any plans, maybe I could invite you out with us. My dad loves everything about Muggles, and since you work in the Muggle liaison office of the bank, you two might have something in common."

Moss had a look of thinking as he asked, "Doesn't your father work in the Ministry? Did I remember that right? I met a lot of new people when I first started working here, so you'll excuse me if I don't remember every little detail."

"Yes, that's right, and one of my brothers does, too," he said with a sigh. Percy wasn't often discussed, though they all hoped he would return to the family.

"Do you have a large family?" Jonathan asked. When Bill smiled back, he knew he was right.

"I'm the oldest of seven. We're all boys except for my sister Ginny. She's the youngest," he said with a shadow of sadness growing on his face as he thought of her.

Moss stopped walking at that point. "What is it?" he said with concern as he noticed the look on Bill's face. "If you talk, you might feel better about it.

"I doubt that," Bill said. "My sister's gone. She disappeared on Halloween, and we haven't heard a thing about her since. My parents are falling apart because no one can seem to tell us anything."

The looks of pain and sorrow that passed over the curse breaker's face fascinated Jonathan. As a man with a curious nature, he knew he had to take him up on his offer just to wheedle some more information about the red haired girl he had in his basement.

"I'm sorry, Bill. I'm sure it's hard to have missing loved ones, especially now with the holiday season," he said with the right form of consolation. "If you don't mind me asking, what's her name again? _Is_ her name. I'm sorry. Only positive thoughts, right?"

"Ginevra," he said with a sniff that he tried to hide, "but we just called her Ginny."

"Well, maybe you could tell me about her, if it doesn't hurt too much to talk about it. I'm sorry, but this is the first I've heard of your sister's disappearance. Maybe I could help, or maybe the Muggles who visit me might know something," he suggested in a perfectly helpful and reasonable tone.

"I think I'd like that," he said. "My dad would, too. So you'll join us then?"

"Only if it's not an imposition," Jonathan replied with an airy wave of his hand that Bill finally noticed was bandaged.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"Oh, this? I was trying to cook something last night and grabbed a pot while it was still too hot. It was so stupid of me, I know." He added a self-deprecating shrug and a grin to make the lie convincing.

"My mother has a great ointment for things like that. My brothers and I used to get into lots of stupid scrapes when we were growing up, and my brother Charlie works with dragons. So he has definitely had to use it a time or two," Bill said in the naturally charming and friendly way he had. "I could ask her to send some if she has any."

"Oh, I couldn't trouble you," Jonathan said. "It sounds like you have an interesting and talented family. If that offer still stands to join you and your father, I'd love that. I don't want to be an imposition, mind you. It just might be nice to meet some good people."

"Yes, I think that would be lovely. It might cheer up my dad, at least for a little while," Bill said. "I'll stop by your office, and we can Apparate together."

"Fantastic," Moss replied to him before bringing his attention to the bank trolls who were looking over his parchments meticulously.

###

When it was time to meet Arthur for lunch, Bill went to Jonathan's office and rapped lightly on his door frame. The man had his head down in study of some Muggle papers and was making diligent notes.

"What is it you have there?" Weasley asked Moss in a friendly way.

"I'm reading up on changes to Muggle money over the continent with some of the governments participating in the European Union. It doesn't change wizard money, but it does change how we interact with Muggles," he lamented. "So is it time for lunch yet?"

"Aye. Let's go," he answered back.

Together they Apparated to Diagon Alley. Bill walked ahead of Moss into the Leaky Cauldron and found his father drinking alone in a secluded booth. He chose not to mention what he saw, but it did trouble him. His father was generally not a heavy drinker, but the loss of Ginny had done something to his nerves.

"Cheers, Dad!" he said brightly. "This is Jonathan Moss, one of blokes who works with Muggles at the bank. My father, Arthur Weasley. He works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry. I hope you don't mind that I invited him for lunch with us."

"It doesn't matter if I mind if he's already here," Arthur replied in a dark voice. To Jonathan, he said, "Please excuse me."

"I don't mean to impose upon you, Mr. Weasley. I heard about your daughter, and I wanted to tell you that I am so sorry," he said, looking like he truly meant it.

Arthur looked at the man in surprise. "Thank you," he said and indicated for him to sit down. The older man's normally carefree and easy-going attitude was subdued.

"So you work with Muggles then?" Mr. Weasley questioned him after he had taken another drink of his pint. "Aren't they just fascinating?"

That was enough of an open door that Jonathan could use his charm and knowledge to ingratiate himself to both the Weasley patriarch and his son. He had plenty of experience being effortlessly charming, and he was using all his tricks to get the two men to trust him enough to let their defenses down.

They discussed their favorite things about Muggles while Bill, who was not as interested in them as his father was, ordered a plate of lunch. Jonathan then put in his order and offered to pay for the meal.

"It's the least I can do seeing as you let me interrupt. Besides, it's the holiday season now," he said as he continued to make small talk with Arthur.

Once sufficient small talk had been made, Jonathan started to make subtle questions about the two people he held in his basement dungeon. He had never before met the families of his guests, so that in itself was fascinating for him.

"So is anyone trying to find her?" he asked with the appropriate sound of worry.

"We had several people try, actually," Arthur said with a frown, "and one of our closest friends got killed doing it."

"Poor Remus," Bill intoned, lifting up his glass in a salute.

"That's an unusual name," Jonathan remarked.

"Yes, but appropriate. The bloke was a werewolf," Bill said.

"I mean no offense, but you actually trusted your daughter around a known werewolf?" said Jonathan, sounding absolutely scandalized.

"He was a good man," Arthur supplied. "He used to teach at Hogwarts for a while, so he knew our Gin."

"It's mind-boggling," Moss said. "I am surprised the parents didn't campaign to have him removed! Again, I don't mean any offense to the memory of your late friend, but you know how people are."

"No, he quit after a year," Bill informed him. "He had the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, which is probably more cursed than anything I've ever found for Gringotts!" Bill's eyes subtly twinkled with humor at that, and Jonathan smiled in response.

Moss then asked for more physical and biographical details and acted as if he were truly interested by taking notes on one of the napkins. "So Ginny Weasley and Remus Lupin? I can see if my Muggle contacts know anything."

As Jonathan was finishing his scribbles, Fleur came into the Leaky Cauldron making a bee-line right to her husband, Bill. They had married only the August before, but the four months seemed ages ago in the wake of Ginny's loss. Bill was quick to make introductions once she was at their table.

"Jonathan, this is my lovely wife. You may have heard of her a few years ago. She was the French champion from Beauxbatons in the Triwizard Tournament," he said with obvious pride. "Fleur, Jonathan Moss works with me at the bank."

"_Enchantée_," she said as she held out her delicate hand.

He kissed her fingers as an old courtier would have done and then praised her work in the championship. "I was not at any of the events, but I did keep aware of the coverage. You are a very skilled witch."

Jonathan also told her of summers he had spent in France as a boy and how much he had liked the country. Then he politely excused himself to go to the loo.

"I cannot stay," she told her husband once the other man had gone. "I brought you this."

Whatever it was, Arthur didn't see, but Bill blushed and quickly stuffed it away into his pocket. "Thank you. So what do you think of Jonathan?"

"I do not like him. 'E smiles too much," Fleur said, her accent slipping slightly.

"He's a nice guy! How can you say that?" Bill laughed.

"A woman knows," she said and gave him a stern look. "I think I will be going now. See you at home."

When Jonathan returned from the loo, he was surprised to see that Fleur had already departed. "Your wife is very lovely, Bill."

He sat looking at the two Weasley men with a Cheshire cat smile. Arthur looked at him and realized he did agree with his daughter-in-law's assessment of the man. He was too smiley, though it could be because he was trying too hard to be friendly. The older Weasley then chastised himself because if the worst thing you could say about a man was that he was friendly, then he probably wasn't a bad person.

"Do you have any family, Jonathan?" Arthur asked him.

He blushed with the skill of the best actors. "I'm not married like Bill here, but I might find someone one day. In fact, there is someone special in my life right now, so I'll have to see how it works out. I have a pretty girl and her dog waiting for me at home."

"Well, good luck to you," Arthur said.

"Thank you, sir," Moss answered. "I thank you both for allowing me to join you for lunch, but I must go back to the office now. I have a few afternoon appointments, and my Muggle clients won't enjoy waiting, alas. I'll just go reconcile the bill with Tom on my way out."

Bill smiled at his coworker. "Thank you for being so generous."

"Think nothing of it," Jonathan answered with another of his large smiles before leaving.

###

**Hogwarts, Marauders' 6th Year, Spring**

James was flummoxed at how to handle the revelation of the change in relationship between Sirius and Remus. He was angry at Sirius for not having already told him because _they_ were the best friends of their little group, or so he thought. Black should have trusted him and told him instead of keeping it a secret.

So James watched and waited, hoping that Sirius would tell him what was happening. The more that time passed without a word, the more that Potter's anger started to boil until one day as they were all sitting at the table in the Great Hall it all came spilling over.

Sirius had sat at the table beside Remus, and James saw that he was sitting close to him, though not as close as the more accepted boy girl pairs. It seemed that Black did have some amount of discretion in him.

James pounded his fist on the table, and leaned forward to whisper viciously, "So when were you two going to tell me?"

Lupin's eyes flew open, and his face froze in guilt. He darted his gaze to Sirius to see if the other boy had the same thought as he had. Black laughed it off by purposefully misunderstanding Potter's intent.

"If it's the test you're wondering about, we didn't cheat. I actually studied for it this time."

"That's not what I'm talking about," James said, pulling back a little. Then he pointed slowly at the both of them. "You two have some explaining to do."

"I don't have to talk to you about that," Sirius said. "It's really none of your business."

"It is when I find you shagging in our room. Peter and I thought you were fighting, but no. You two were…" he said before making a face as if to show that the very thought of them together made him physically ill.

Sirius got up from the table, too angry to talk. He made a hand motion to show that he was going outside, and James got up to follow him out of the Great Hall. They'd either fix their squabble or have a fight, and knowing them, quite possibly both.

Lupin's face was still pale with the shock of having been discovered, and he hadn't said a word yet in his own defense.

It was Peter who was still left at the table who said, "Don't you think you should go talk to them?"

"What do you care?" he finally said and got up to leave the table.

###

Curiosity had usually been attributed as a feline trait, but the young werewolf Remus Lupin could hardly concentrate for wanting to know just what was happening with James and Sirius. They hadn't come to their first class after lunch, and when they didn't appear in the second class of the afternoon, it began to trouble him. So he quietly slipped out of the class begging off that he had to see the medi-witch in the hospital wing.

When he found the pair, James and Sirius were sitting near the lake, and whatever blows they might have exchanged were already given. They were to the part of the conversation where they were actually talking about what had been happening. The two black-haired boys had their heads bent together and were in deep discussion and paid no attention to Remus who tried to approach covertly and listen in on their conversation.

"You really love him," James stated, manipulating every word so the idea would fit into his mind set. "You love him like I love Lily Evans?"

Sirius nodded and answered with certainty, "Yes."

"I don't understand it, but I don't have to, either, I guess. I'm not the one shagging him." Thinking of another possibility, James asked, "Are you sure you aren't doing this just to get back at your family?"

The other boy smiled. "I'm sure. I also can't explain it. It just is. Besides, you know what they say. Once you go werewolf, you never go back."

James sighed in contemplation. "Whatever makes you happy, Mate."

"Remus does," Sirius admitted. "Except for when he's being a prat, or when he's eavesdropping!" At the last word, Sirius threw a small rock at the bushes where Lupin was hiding.

Moony stepped out of the shadows where he had been hiding and waved shyly at his two friends.

"Did you hear enough to make you happy now?" Sirius teased his boyfriend.

"Yeah," he said minimally.

James got up from his crouching position on the grass. "I'll leave you two alone," he said as he walked away.

"What? Don't want to stay for a spot of tea and a nice chat?" Remus called out cheekily as his friend departed.

James gave him an offensive hand gesture and said, "I know all I need to know."

"I get the distinct feeling we make him uncomfortable," Remus deadpanned as he watched their friend walk away.

Sirius laughed. "We will probably make a lot of people feel uncomfortable, Moony."

"True," Lupin said as he turned his attentions back to Black.

"James doesn't have much excuse for pointing fingers at us, anyway. A miracle happened," Sirius said with a joking twinkle in his eyes.

"What is it?" Remus asked back in hushed tones.

Here Sirius smiled broadly. "Evans actually agreed to go out on a date with him. It will be the next Hogsmeade weekend if I remember correctly."

"Oh, my lord," Remus groaned dramatically, "the world really is coming to an end!"

"I know! Can you just imagine what's going to happen when those two get together?" Sirius grinned.

"Certain death by snogging?" he offered.

Sirius had a look of mock contemplation. "Perhaps, but that's something I'd be willing to try if I had someone to help me."

Remus jokingly looked around both sides of him. "There's no one here but me."

"Then I guess you'll have to do," he said and pulled Moony closer to see if death by snogging really were possible.

###

Jonathan's head was filled with thoughts as he finished his work day. He was unexpectedly gleeful, and he decided to go get some Chinese takeout from one of the Muggle shops before returning to his manor in County Durham.

Once there, he went immediately to check on the werewolf. Wand drawn, he walked over to him to nudge him with the toe of his shoe. He was in a deep sleep but didn't move. Moss made tisking noises and walked out of the room as if he wasn't bothered by his guest's state of sleep.

"There you are, sir! I didn't know you'd come back yet," Robert said breathlessly as he found him in the basement dungeon.

"I had a good day," he said in a very pleased tone. "I'm going upstairs to my study to eat. I want you to fetch the girl and bring her to my study. Make sure you have enough chains to reinforce her bonds. I wouldn't want her making a mess of things up there."

"Sir? You want me to take her to the main part of the house?" Robert questioned with consternation.

"Yes," he replied with a grin. "Bring her up forthwith. I'll be waiting."

While Jonathan had a surprisingly happy disposition on most days, especially days when he could play with his guests, he was particularly ebullient as he practically skipped upstairs to his combination home office and library.

Robert with the help of Theo brought the girl in her shackles and fastened her to one of the opulent chairs with its back to the fireplace. They reinforced the bonds with spells and then were dismissed by Jonathan who was happily humming to himself a Muggle Christmas song that he had heard in the food shop.

Ginny darted looks around the room. This was the first time she had been anywhere other than in the dungeon areas since he had captured her. Expensive looking leather-bound books filled the many bookshelves that had been built into the walls. He had several pieces of furniture covered in soft brown leather, and there was his desk that was covered with several bits and bobs. Some Ginny vaguely recognized as things she might have seen because of her father.

He watched her in self-satisfaction as he leaned back against his solid wooden desk eating the Chinese food out of a white take away box. As he picked away at the food with the chopsticks, he sighed. "It's one of my weaknesses. One of those Muggles got me started on this when we were having meetings in London, and I just couldn't stop."

Jonathan walked closer to Ginny with his items still in his hand. His face held the expression of thinking while he ate slowly. In contrast, his body showed the possibility of immediate action. His tight black trousers and dramatic linen shirt gave him an air of a toreador or a Latin lover. Moss did have the looks for it, not that Ginny could ever think of him in that light. She did take some delight in noticing that the look was ruined by the bandages on his hands because she had burned him through his own spell.

"You don't know what I do for a living, do you? That's right," he said between bites. "I never told you." After still more bites, he asked, "Do you want to try some? I assure you it's fine."

Ginny looked at the box suspiciously. She didn't want to take any of Jonathan's kindnesses. He made sure she was fed, but in all other things he was a cruel monster with a smiling face.

"Try it," he ordered, holding out a piece of broccoli for her to eat. "Now!" The look on his face was determined, stronger than his normally placid demeanor.

When Ginny opened her mouth slightly, he slid the piece of vegetable in with a look of commiserating triumph. "It's good, isn't it?" Moss said as he offered a piece of beef to go with the broccoli.

Ginny nodded her assent. He shared a few more pieces with her before speaking again.

"So! I was telling you about my work. After all, my life isn't _all_ fun and games here with you. I work in an office, and it can be so drab and boring," he said with a lamenting sigh.

Jonathan walked to his desk to clean his hands with a napkin, all the while continuing his story. "I work with Muggles and with the goblins. You could say I'm in banking," he said as he turned back to her and leaned back against his desk.

"You know, there are lots of people who work at Gringotts. Just this afternoon I shared lunch with this one curse breaker who works at the bank. He's supposed to be quite good, too. I heard he left a top assignment at the Egyptian branch just to be near his family. Nice guy, that Bill Weasley," Jonathan said, letting Bill's name hang in the air as he watched Ginny for a reaction.

"His father was waiting for us at the Leaky Cauldron. I really liked him, too, come to think of it. That Arthur chap works with the Muggles because of his job at the Ministry. We had a lot in common. I could have probably stayed all day talking to the man. So with Muggles and money, we three really just… had so much in common. It was amazing. I felt like I was already a member of the family. Goodness, even Bill's pretty wife Fleur stopped by briefly!

"Maybe those Weasleys really need that sense of family right now. It turns out," he said with a pause to show a sad face, "that their youngest and only daughter is has been kidnapped and is presumed dead. I really feel for their pain. They _want_ to hope, but since she is gone without a trace, especially now that it's December, it's hard on them.

"With poor Ginevra gone, their world is falling apart no matter the brave faces they try to show the rest of the world. It _is_ Ginevra, isn't it? No, I think that girl had a nickname, something cute… Ginny. Wouldn't that be right?" he asked as he stood right in front of her again and looked with unblinking scrutiny.

"Oh, and do you know the _best_ part?" he said joyfully. "They sent a werewolf to find her! I really don't know why, unless they thought he could sniff her out like a dog. But I guess the werewolf knew her. He was her former teacher. Student and teacher dabblings sound a bit suspicious to me. Don't they sound that way to you?"

If he expected an answer, Ginny sat stone faced and didn't give him one. She was trying to control herself enough not to have a tell-tale flare appear in the fireplace when he provoked her. Her mind whirled that he had just today been with Bill and her father. This torture might actually be worse than anything she was forced to endure physically because she could not escape it.

He leaned forward and wrapped one of her red locks around his finger. She involuntarily flinched, and he looked back to her with a raised eyebrow and his perpetually amused smile.

"They think the werewolf is dead, and no one, _no __one_ has been able to locate the missing daughter," he said as he put his face right next to hers and focused his blue eyes on her brown ones.

Suddenly, he pulled himself away and did a little dancing turn around the room. "I have frankly never had this happen before! It is the most fascinating thing, and it has filled me with such visceral joy. I feel like I'm about to burst with gladness. Do you know that in all the time I have had guests, not once have I ever met their families? I feel so fulfilled right now somehow."

His laughter filled the room, and the smile on his face was radiant. Ginny watched without comment. It was a similar crazy to Tom's, though Jonathan was so cheerful in his maliciousness.

"Well, Ginny," he said as he put his hands on the forearms of the chair and looked in her face again, "I am positively ecstatic. Think of the possibilities! I think your brother and I are going to become the best of friends. I just know it. And your father? Well, with all my Muggle contacts, I plan on finding some little bauble that he will simply adore. I think I'll make it a good Christmas for them." He nodded in agreement with himself as he rambled his monologue.

"Anyway, it's time for you to go back down below with your not-so-dead werewolf Remus. Tomorrow, I may have to say hello to your brother again and thank him for a lovely time. And when I get home, I think I'll have Robert put you up for a good flogging. Nothing is better for relaxing than giving a person a good flogging, I think," he said with a contemplative sigh.

"Goodnight," he said sweetly before summoning Robert to the chamber with a bell.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter comes from "What's the Matter With You?" performed by Split Enz on the album _True Colours_.


	21. A Modest Proposal

**CHAPTER 21:  
A Modest Proposal**

_Though I'm frightened by the word, I think it's time I made it heard  
So I'll sing it to the world, Simple message to my girl  
_~Neil Finn

At Hogwarts castle on the Wednesday evening of the first week in December, Harry decided to follow up on the Mirror of Erised suggestion from Luna. He hadn't seen it since his first year, but he assumed that Dumbledore would have hidden it in the Room of Requirement. If not that, then the power of the room itself could possibly be enough to call the mirror to manifest itself in there.

He moved quietly and tried not to be detectable by anyone, particularly any Slytherin students or their head of house. He was not quite lucky on that score as an inquisitive Ravenclaw drifted over to him while he was at the door to the room.

"I was waiting for you to get here," Luna said. "I had to join you in case you needed a friend. What if you find disturbing news?"

"Thank you, Luna," he said in that way that showed she continued to baffle him. He did appreciate her being there with him, and she had already shown herself reliable in a fight, not that he was anticipating having one.

Harry nodded his agreement, and then stood meditating at the door. He tried his best to think into the room to let it know he needed just the Mirror of Erised. When he was ready, he gave Luna the signal, and the pair walked in with their wands drawn cautiously.

As in many other times, the Room of Requirement was filled with so much miscellaneous broken furniture that it seemed to be a graveyard for forgotten things. Harry and Luna scanned up and down the aisles until he found the mirror. He had a lump in his throat as he looked at it.

"Is this it?" Luna asked him. She pointed to the backwards inscription and seemed to be taken with it.

Potter swallowed hard as he looked at it. "I'd know it anywhere."

He then took a deep breath and closed his eyes before going to stand in front of it. He had so many experiences in front of the mirror as a young wizard, and he hadn't seen it since. Dumbledore had advised against it, and Harry had been of the age where he usually listened to those in authority.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Ginny, and his breath caught in his throat. It was not the Ginny who had been taken from Hogsmeade, but an older Ginny who was his wife and the mother of his children. She and the little ones were waving out of the mirror at him with a big welcoming gesture. It was so welcoming and inviting, that he sighed in sadness. If he never found her, this possibility would never come to fruition.

"Let's go, Luna. There's nothing here," he said sadly.

"Didn't it work, Harry?" she asked.

His mouth was a very sad line upon his face. "No, it didn't show me where she is _now_, even though I desire that, too. It showed me a possible future, but not how to get there. I should have known better."

"I'm sorry," she said as she put a comforting hand on his forearm. "Nothing we love is ever truly lost. I think she's still out there."

"You're the only one who does," he lamented.

"Have you spoken with Professor Dumbledore?" she asked, and when he shook his head no, Luna smiled sweetly back at him.

By this point, they were out in the hallway and he again considered her suggestion. They parted with her heading back to Ravenclaw tower, and Harry off to the Headmaster's chambers.

Again Potter was thwarted because Dumbledore was not on the premises. One of the portraits told him that Albus was out on a retrieval mission.

"Is it Ginny?" he asked.

"It seems not," the portrait responded, dashing the little hope Harry could muster. "Albus was excited about a break in the case, but we could not see if it was for her. We have not seen Miss Weasley, and wherever she is now is a place where none of us can follow."

Harry let himself out of the Headmaster's office and tried desperately not to give in to the rage and anger at the injustice of it all. The emotion that came to the top of it all was resigned despair. Every turn, every possible lead had been a dead end, and he had no idea what to do.

###

After Jonathan's discovery of their identities, life such as it was for Ginny and Remus worsened. He took such happy pleasure in their suffering, and even their apparent indifference to their torture seemed to amuse him. He made time to visit each of them daily with a different activity. If anything positive could be said about Moss, it was that he was infinitely creative.

Stewart had begun making regular visits to Ginny's cell as well, though he timed it not to conflict with Jonathan's torture. Through their telepathic bond, Remus felt her every pain that accompanied each of the men's visits, and Lupin vowed to himself that if he ever lived to have daughters, none of them would ever have to suffer the kind of horror that Ginny was enduring. Sometimes he could hear the far off sounds of it with his enhanced werewolf ears, and that was its own kind of horror separate from experiencing it through her filter of perception. She didn't talk about it with him, and because she had drawn her line where he could not go, Remus did not ask her. He was at a loss of how to give her comfort, though it was his greatest wish to do so.

He suffered his own indignities at the hands of Frank, who had not taken well to having his manhood threatened. His retaliation was aided by the information he had overhead from Jonathan telling Robert the identities of the prisoners. Using his name, Frank had gotten a research wizard to find out all the dirt on Remus John Lupin.

The minion had tried to taunt him about Sirius, a relationship he found infinitely fascinating. He also crowed proudly that he hadn't been wrong about Moony's deviant proclivities matching his own. In an odd way, he acted offended that the werewolf hadn't responded to his advances since he clearly had a history of being with men.

Lupin wanted to retort that love and lust were individual and not solely related to what kind of parts were hiding under the robes. He was too smart, however, to have the conversation because Frank was not listening. Instead, Remus chose a different form of attack—repentant seduction.

"Maybe I can be convinced," he had told Frank. "You don't know what it's like for a werewolf as he gets closer to the full moon. Not only does his thirst for flesh and blood need to be satisfied, but his desire for sex compounds exponentially. When you found me on the new moon, I was at my lowest point, but as we get closer to the full moon, I'll want to mount anything that gets in my way."

Interestingly, that was almost completely true. Moony's sexual appetites _did_ increase with the increasing light of the moon, something he and Padfoot had found out on many occasions. To imply that he couldn't control himself, though, was a concession thrown in for Frank's vanity. The diversion worked well enough that the man reflexively touched himself under his robes as he remembered his precarious position on the night of the new moon.

"If I did it and meant it, I'd be the best you ever had," Remus said as one last bit of manipulation.

"You know, werewolf. Another full moon is never far away, and I believe the next one comes in less than two weeks. We can learn to be nice to each other in the meantime, don't you think?" he asked rhetorically as his hands wandered over Lupin's naked body.

His wrists were in shackles so he couldn't have fought Frank's advances, and he involuntarily arched his body at the other man's touch, though it was in disgust and not arousal. That subtle fact was lost on Frank who was determined to master the werewolf. Moony was equally determined that he was going to use this as an opportunity, however slim, to escape. He just had to make sure the other man let down his guard enough for the opportunity to present itself.

###

In the Great Hall at Hogwarts on Thursday morning, Hermione sat reading her newspaper at breakfast after the post owl had brought it to her. There was a minor din coming from the other students around her, but she was concentrating on the headlines and found a story worth sharing with Harry and Ron.

"Do you remember some of the children who had gone missing a few months ago? Remember there was a whole wave of disappearances that were thought to be linked to Death Eaters?" she said as a dramatic reminder.

Ron had his mouth full and gestured for her to continue while Harry looked up curiously. Ginny's name nearly spilled out of his mouth, but he waited for Hermione to be dramatic in her own time.

"It reads here that Albus Dumbledore and several of the Magical Law Enforcement wizards retrieved some of the missing children last night and have returned them to their homes," she said and turned the paper so they could see the article.

"That explains why he wasn't here last night," Harry said softly. At their inquisitive expressions, he said, "I went to talk to him last night, but he wasn't in his office."

"Well, it looks like he was busy," Hermione said briskly before excusing herself from the table to go to another one of her classes that Harry and Ron didn't share.

"Have you thought of what you'll be doing over the Christmas break? Are you staying here in the castle?" Ron asked Harry once she was gone.

"I don't know," he admitted. He wasn't really sure what he was going to do, but he realized in that moment that he did not want to be alone.

"Come home with me," Ron said. "You know Mum always has an open door for you. It might be nice."

"I didn't want to impose in case your family wanted to be alone," he said.

"I'll send an owl to Mum. I'm sure it will be all right," Weasley answered before he, too, left the table.

###

**Marauders, Summer between 2nd and 3rd Hogwarts Year**

Through the spring of their second year at Hogwarts, the Marauders worked tirelessly on learning to become Animagi. They were seen in the library so much that the librarian began to be suspicious of their endeavors. When they could, the snuck out to the Shrieking Shack to practice, but it was not as fruitful as they wished.

"I know we can do it," James said as encouragement to his group of friends. "I just don't know how."

The quartet of boys lamented the group's lack of success, and Lupin stopped his jokes that he had long ago mastered the art of turning into a werewolf. They had continued trying over the summer for his sake, and they had all been at Potter's home to continue their practice. It was the fierce friendship that bespoke of unity and support. Remus's parents had surely loved him, but the love of a true friend was different and special.

"Maybe we're trying too hard," Sirius said with some frustration as he threw himself down on Potter's bed.

"But Professor McGonagall can do it," Peter said about their head of house.

"Ugh! She's as old as Godric Gryffindor himself!" Potter said.

Remus was quiet on the subject. He had read and understood the texts, but he wasn't personally invested in becoming anything other than what he was. He had entertained thoughts that perhaps it would be nice not to change ever again, though as time ticked on, he had very few memories of a life like that.

Potter stomped his foot on the floor of his room and then declared that he was going to go outside and practice one last time. The other two potential Animagi followed him out of guilt while the werewolf walked at the rear of the group, quietly observing and hoping they'd figure this out soon. It was tiresome work being this diligent!

The boys sat on the grass trying different ways to make their changes as a matter of will. James attempted calm Zen-like meditation, until he realized he was being distracted by the other two. Sirius tried to scare Peter into changing into something, and they were screaming in laughter. They ended up chasing each other with James and Remus joining in the fun until they fell down with exhaustion.

"I give up!" Potter cried out in defeat. He was flat on his back staring up at the sky thinking this was the one magical thing he couldn't master.

The other three boys looked to each other with concern because James was the kind of wizard who never said die. They had various times of discouragement, but this sounded different than any other time they had tried and failed. It sounded permanent.

He got up off the ground to walk into his house. He was too tired and disappointed to think of anything else. He seemed to trip over his feet and fell forward, landing on his hands. When he got up, his body shimmered with light and where James had just been stood a majestic stag with the most beautiful set of antlers. He turned back to them and pawed his foot at the ground as if impatient with them.

Peter and Sirius stared at each other with open mouths is if disbelieving what they could plainly see. Remus summed it up for them by pointing out that James had given up. Maybe they were just trying too hard.

"Bloody brilliant," Sirius said with awe at Potter's transformation. Then after a beat he asked, "Hey, mate. Can you change back?"

James walked forward and did a shift from stag back to human, which caused Peter to proclaim it the most amazing thing he had ever seen. Even Remus was impressed and thankful that he might not always have to be alone after all.

After Potter's success with the transformation to his Animagus form, Black and Pettigrew soon followed suit so that by the time they walked through the doors of Hogwarts at the start of their third year, they were fully prepared to make mischief with their favorite werewolf.

###

On Saturday at Hogwarts a few of the post owls came flying in during lunch time, and many of them looked rather harried because of the deliveries for the Christmas season. While owls usually enjoyed tips in the forms of food, a few of them were disgruntled enough to nip at the fingers of the students and staff who were too foolish to get in their way.

One owl brought back the speedy reply from Molly that Harry was definitely welcome to spend the holiday break with the family. Ron declared the matter settled, and Harry thanked him. Then the two boys focused on Hermione, who was again reading her copy of the _Daily Prophet_. She was biting her lip as she read, which was an odd signal to the other two that something was afoot.

"What is it now?" Ron asked, almost afraid for what the answer could be.

"More children are going home," she said dismissively. When she looked up at them, she couldn't hide the emotion in her face. "Magical Law Enforcement has recovered more of the ones who had been kidnapped in the last few months. It's a pretty big blow against the Death Eaters."

"But not one of them is Ginny," Ron stated. If she had been found, his mother would have told him immediately.

She shook her head sadly, and set the paper down on the table, not interested in reading it any more.

Harry tried to keep his eyes from misting when he told his two best friends, "Maybe she wasn't taken by Voldemort. He's the biggest evil, but he's not the _only_ evil. I know all about that."

The last he added with a self-conscious flex of his hand where he still bore the mark of _Dolores_Umbridge's detentions. Continuing, he said, "Neville and Luna both told me to change my perspective. Maybe it wasn't Death Eaters who took her."

"It's possible, Harry," Hermione agreed, "but we've done nearly everything we know to do. I'm sure Dumbledore and the Order are still trying to find her. They've tried every logical thing they can."

He frowned at her since her logic was not at all making him feel better. "Maybe we have to try something illogical then!"

"Well, why don't you try reading some tea leaves!" she said testily as she shoved her cup forward toward Potter.

Silence fell on the table with the group of friends who were all missing Ginny in their individual ways. Ron took the cup from in front of Harry and looked down into the leaves. Though he had faked his predictions accurately in Divination class with Trelawney, he had no confidence in tea leaves. Staring down into the teacup just made him miss his sister more.

He thought of drinking tea with her and sharing that time that only they could share together because it had always been that way. Bill and Charlie were older and used to each other's company. Percy had always been a prat of the finest order. Fred and George were the lives of any party, but they were also such twins who were nearly inseparable. That left him with Ginny, and though he was not the sentimental type, he loved her.

Angry tears streamed down his face as he squeezed the cup and broke it into several tiny pieces. Hermione jumped, and Harry stared at him.

"I'll clean it up!" Weasley said and tried to fix the situation.

"Ronald, you've cut yourself," Hermione said in concern. "I'll take care of this."

"No, I've got to do it! I broke it. I'll clean it up!" he shouted as his emotions got the better of him.

He cleaned up the table and then excused himself to go to the hospital wing about his hands. Harry and Hermione worriedly watched him go but did not stop him.

###

The grieving and angry fire that was burning under Ron finally came to a boil that evening when he stormed into Sybil Trelawney's office on a mission.

"Hello, Mr. Weasley. I knew you were coming," she said and acted as calm as ever.

"Sure you did," he sneered back to her. "And you know what I'm here for, don't you!" He stared at her with his face distorted into angry lines.

"Would you like a tea reading?" Professor Trelawney asked as she poured two cups of steaming hot tea.

"I want no such thing," he started heatedly, immediately hating the look of her tea and the delicate little cups she used. He already had enough of a tea incident for one day.

"Then how can I help you?" she said in an affection of noble grace.

"Where is my sister!" he yelled to her. "You are supposed to be the Divination professor. Has your all-Seeing eye failed you now?"

"I only know what I am allowed to See, and sometimes the future is not revealed for a reason," she said in her mystical voice.

"Charlatan!" Ron yelled again, using one of the colorful words he had learned form his mother. "If you ever had any Sight, tell me where Ginny is!"

"Mr. Weasley, I will not have you take that tone with me," she said in a scandalized voice that held no hint of her airy mysticism.

"Until you actually help us find Ginny, I do believe I will talk to you any way I please," he said, again filled with ire.

"We all miss your sister," she pointed out delicately to him.

"And yet you haven't done anything about finding her, have you?" Ron accused.

Trelawney sighed dramatically. "Perhaps if you had been as attentive as Miss Brown or Miss Patil we would not be having this ugly conversation right now."

"Even broken watches are correct twice a day, Professor." He spat at saying the label of respect. "It is about due time in your life that you actually get something right."

Before the situation could further deteriorate, Hermione burst through the trap door up to Trelawney's office space. "Ron!" she shouted to him.

"Hermione, go away!" he shouted back, wiping tears of anger from his face. "I need some answers from the Seer!"

"I'm so sorry, Professor," Hermione apologized as she tried to pull Ron away.

"But Hermione, she's supposed to See," he wailed with the deep ache in his heart.

Hermione caressed his face, hurting for the young man she loved. "This woman has no answers for you," she said softly for his ears only.

"Goodbye, Professor," Hermione said again while pulling Ron to the trap door.

At the moment they were at the door, the professor staggered and spoke to them in a strange voice. _"The phoenix will return to the land of men guided by the wolf moon." _

Ron looked at her savagely, not believing her words were real. "I came for this?" With a sneer of contempt he descended the ladder and internally vowed never to return again.

At the bottom of the landing, Hermione came to Ron and wrapped her arms around him. He held her tightly and wept softly into her hair for a long time before allowing her to lead him back to Gryffindor tower.

Before they actually got there, Ron grabbed Hermione by the arm and stopped her short, making her whip around to face him.

"I need to ask you something important," he said as his eyes looked unfocused down to the floor.

"What?" she asked with worry.

"Look, I know this doesn't seem like a great time to ask, and it certainly isn't romantic," he started as a preamble, "but after losing Ginny..."

"You don't know that she's gone forever, Ron," she interrupted him.

He held his hand up for patience. "Let me finish. Since she's been gone, I've really been thinking about what's important in life, and the top of my list is family and the ones I love."

Hermione nodded supportively.

Ron looked calm until he let out a burst of bile. "I hate that war rips our families apart. Harry's parents are gone. Ginny's... gone," he choked on the word.

She waited for him to finish his thought. Once he began talking he would eventually get to his point if she let him. He might not arrive as expediently as she would like, but he got there.

"What's important in my life is you, Hermione," Ron said as he took her hand and finally looked her in the eyes. "I don't ever want to lose you. Ever."

She squeezed his hand and came closer. "You won't," she tried to assure him.

"Good. Hermione Granger, will you marry me?" he asked while looking seriously into her eyes.

Hermione heard herself say a soft "Yes," before she had time to think about and over-analyze it. Yes. There really was no other answer nor had there ever been.

He kissed her with the promise of more kisses to come in the rest of their life together. When he was done, he was about to walk hand in hand with her through the portrait hole, but Hermione remained.

"I have something to do," she said softly, "but I'll be right there."

"Okay," he said with one of the first true smiles she'd seen on his face since Halloween.

When the portrait closed, the Fat Lady started to speak to Hermione. "Oh, he's such a dear. This is such exciting news!"

Hermione looked at the portrait and fingered her wand significantly. "Not a word! I don't want you gossiping to all the other portraits. We will tell everyone when we're ready."

The Fat Lady looked offended that Hermione would make such a request. She had already been thinking what she would say to her friend Violet.

Hermione further added with a ruthless edge in her voice, "I did figure out the spell to unstick the portrait of Mrs. Black. I am sure I can do the same to you if needed."

"Well, I never!" the Fat Lady protested hotly at the impudent girl.

"I should hope not. Just remember. Not a word, and everything will be fine," Hermione said before taking her own entrance through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter is from "Message to my Girl" performed by Split Enz on the album _Conflicting Emotions_. It's considered by many (including myself) to be one of Neil's finest love songs.


	22. Passions of the Moon Phase

**CHAPTER 22:  
Passions of the Moon Phase**

_See no future from where I stand  
For the present I am in your hands  
_~Neil Finn

On Sunday morning Remus sat chained near the wall of his cell staring up to the high window. The sun was shining brightly in, giving off some deceptive cheer. Bright winter sun usually entailed a cold day outside. In his position, he thought of a different cold winter day when he had gone to visit Sirius, but in that situation, their roles were reversed.

Remus came out of his reverie of his past as someone else entered his cell. It wasn't Robert but the guard Frank. His tray of lunch was pushed to him across the floor. It was the same horrid porridge as any of the other days he'd been here. Remus hated porridge.

"Thank you," he acknowledged softly.

"I brought you something good," Frank smiled to him, clearly excited by whatever it was he was hiding behind his back. "I know you'll like this."

Remus questioned him with a glance, and Frank produced a peach from behind his back. It was so incongruous because it wasn't the season for peaches.

"Eat," the guard encouraged passing the luscious fruit over to him. "I haven't poisoned it. I swear."

The corners of Lupin's mouth twitched as he remembered telling Harry similar words once about proffered chocolate. Because he was pretending contrition and meekness, he accepted the gift. He kept his eyes on Frank while taking a bite of the juicy piece of fruit. It was more delicious than it had a right to be, and the nectar dribbled down his face.

Frank smiled at him in satisfaction and reached over to put his finger in the wetness on Lupin's face. Then he put his fingertip in his mouth and tasted. "It's good, isn't it?" he asked darkly.

Thankfully, they were interrupted by Theo who came to find Frank. "What do you want?" he asked impatiently, clearly preferring to spend his attentions on the werewolf.

"Mr. Moss says we're to take the girl to the water chamber," Theo told him.

"For what? Is it time to drown the little wench?" Frank answered with a great amount of bile.

"Don't know and don't care," Theo responded. "I just do what I'm told."

"I'm coming," Frank angrily huffed leaving Remus and his peach behind.

###

**Azkaban Prison, February 1982**

It was Sirius then who had been chained in Azkaban prison on this winter day. Remus felt compelled to visit because he had to know if he'd been duped the whole time. How could he have ever loved and trusted such a man who would kill his other two best friends, the one friend's wife and a number of innocent Muggles?

He'd been brought in to the prison, and Remus was glad for his sweet tooth. His chocolate was in his pocket, and he was nibbling furiously as he followed the Dementor to Black's cell. The time would be short, of course, because visits could cause joy and hope. All those potential positive emotions were sucked dry of the victims.

Sirius sat chained to the floor with his own eyes to the window, his face turned away. When Remus entered the cell, it took a long time for Sirius to register recognition.

"Why are you here?" Black eventually asked accusingly.

These were not the kind words of love spoken across pillows in the dark. The darkness in this sentiment was utilitarian in its use to get directly to the point of the matter. A wedge had started growing between them well before James and Lily's murders, and the chasm had only widened with the ravaging effects of the war.

"Did you do it, Sirius?" Remus didn't need to say what "it" was because both men knew.

Sirius reacted in a way that was typical for him then. He laughed and laughed some more. It was not a laugh with humor as there was no humor in that mirthless place. Instead he laughed with insanity.

"You can't blame me for asking, Sirius. You _do_ have a history of violence." Lupin then thought back to the time in their sixth year that he tried to "scare" Severus Snape by introducing him to Remus in his werewolf form.

"Violence I know, and so do you. Werewolf!" Sirius continued with his crazed howls of laughter.

Moony tried to capture his attention by saying his name again. "Sirius!"

Black stopped laughing after a while to comment quietly with razor-sharp bitterness, "I can't believe you have to ask me, Remus. Go away and leave me. Leave! Get out!"

Remus took a step back. This was not his Sirius, this shaggy man before him chained and degraded. He was some mutated form that kept the enough of the characteristics of the Sirius Black he had loved to be a cruel joke. His heart broke all over again, and he vowed never to go back to the prison.

###

In his cell alone again, Moony listened to Ginny because his thoughts were always with her. He was within the realm of her mind so much that part of him felt that they were secretly merging into one person with two separate bodies. He revered her well of strength that seemed to have almost infinite depths. For her he tried to be strong, and he would lend her his own fortitude that was different than hers.

As Jonathan tried to break her, he noticed he was having his own visceral reactions. He had been able to pretend to be meek most of his life. The control he had over his werewolf side was slipping, and that was the side that few people had ever seen. Even his fellow Marauders had never completely understood his true werewolf nature.

Moony had begun empathizing with Ginny's pain, and that caused physical distortion. At first it was merely growls, which were not completely unusual. Then he began to notice that parts of his body would change as pain spiked within him. He would quickly develop claws or the wolf snout, but he could quickly shove it away by suppressing it. He had long been an expert at suppressing unpleasantness.

She had encouraged him to embrace his inner wolf, and she was one of the few who had ever done that. Though Ginny did not want to be a werewolf herself, she had no hate or fear of him. Maybe all he had to do was surrender. He could unleash the wolf, and they would both be free. It could be so simple.

When Jonathan swept into his cell, he knew simplicity was just a dream for another time. He opened his eyes to his captor and waited for whatever grandstanding he was about to do. His vanity was almost of Lockhart proportions, and he rather disliked Lockhart, especially after having to clean up the mess he'd made as a teacher.

"And how are you this fine afternoon, Remus?" he asked with a twinkling gaze and a smile that Lupin wanted to claw off his face. Moss enjoyed using their names now that he knew them. It was as if he thought doing so gave him more power over them.

"Peachy," he replied as he waited for Jonathan's latest news.

"Do you know what next Sunday is, my werewolf friend? Do you know what happens a mere seven days from now?" he asked, sounding rather pleased with himself.

"Is it your birthday?" he retorted.

Remus assumed Moss was alluding to the full moon. He always knew where in the moon cycle he was, and had he been in his normal life before this capture he would have started taking Wolfsbane Potion draughts on the seven consecutive days leading up to and including the full moon. So if Jonathan was trying to be cute and coy about the full moon, he picked the wrong creature to try it with.

"Oh, no, but I have big plans for you. You and your girl ruined my Full Moonlight Spell, but I have other things I want to try on you once we have real full moonlight. It will be glorious," he said, emphasizing the last word the same way some flamboyant artists praised their latest creations.

"Remember, I get dinner and a show first," Remus said, using sarcasm as a defense.

Moss ignored the quip and motioned for two of his men to retrieve Lupin. He took out the sharp and shiny dagger he often had with him and twirled the hilt in his hands. "I think it's time to play with this werewolf's piggies!"

The squeal of delight that came from him was just another sign that Jonathan would be up to nothing but mayhem and maliciousness.

###

At the other end of the dungeon in her cell and finally free of the men who tortured and abused her, Ginny thought of the fire magic she wielded, and she knew she had to do more than the fire that could warm tea cups. She remembered her fire magic and how it had always been tied to her emotions when she had done it unconsciously. She had heated the tea cup of the brother who annoyed her. She had burned Draco's robes for the insults he had done to Harry. She had further caused the fires in Professor Snape's detentions.

But her most destructive fires had belonged to her emotions that had been influenced by Remus. It could have been their linked minds, but it could have been many things. Ginny only knew that when he was hurt, she lashed out stronger than any other time. She needed to go to that place and find that well of emotion to wield the power of her fire. The conclusion was nearly unavoidable if she wanted to escape, and that she wanted dearly.

Thinking only on Remus she concentrated on all her memories of him. She remembered him as a capable and humorous teacher who gave her comfort after Tom. He had said that he believed in her then, and she had a low tolerance for liars. She had figured his confidence to be true.

In the five or so years he had been in her life, he had been many things other than just the professor she first knew. That would always play a part in her perception of him, but then he became someone with an identity of his own and not merely a teacher to be held at a distance. His humor had surprised her when they had all helped restore Grimmauld Place as the Order Headquarters. Their odd similar taste in Muggle art was also a surprise.

And yes, he was here with her now in this hell of a dungeon. Ginny still didn't understand why it was him above all others who had heard her and come to her. She had brothers and other family. She had Harry and Hermione. She had people, but now she had a werewolf who was most definitely hers. She felt it in the things he did not say. It was strange to feel the foundation between them shifting, but of all the bad things that were happening to her, the changing relationship Ginny had with Remus was not one of them.

She put her thoughts out to him and knew Jonathan and his men had him. It meant they would be busy with Lupin and not occupied with harming her, so Ginny used the break to her advantage. She walked in her cell creating the warmth of her tea cup, and then she continued building the fire until she had a thin flickering shield. She moved it as she would a Patronus, making it dance around her. Then she grew the fire until it wrapped around her body like thin shimmering silk.

Ginny did not know if her own fire would burn her, but somewhere in her life she had heard that a snake could not poison itself with its own venom. On faith that her magic might work the same, she reached out her hand to gather the fire into herself. It came into her fingers and rolled along her arm until it settled within, lighting her brown eyes for one brief moment before it became a part of her again.

She allowed herself to smile and be content in the success she was having. Then she reached in to Moony's mind and gave him a soft whispering touch to let him know she was here if he needed her. She came out of it again, determined to practice and increase her magic. She needed more than the fires of hot tea and halos to leave Jonathan's imprisonment. She needed the flames of hell.

So Ginny concentrated her might to make a fireball. Then she made it dance around her like a golden snitch. When she felt the force of Lupin's pain it became a bludger. With each strike to his body, she felt it as a blow within her, and she used that power to try to make her fire burn hotter and brighter. The toil was so exhausting that Robert found her in a dead sleep when he later brought her supper, and even Stewart wasn't interested enough to assault her.

###

On Monday morning, Jonathan once again met Bill using the ruse that it was a happy coincidence that they were turning in paperwork again at the same time. Weasley smiled at him as Moss made all the polite inquiries about his wife and father and any updates he could share on the whereabouts of his sister.

"Nothing new, I'm afraid," he said.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You probably get people asking you all the time how things are going, and I don't want to be like one of those people. It's an easy question with an uneasy answer, right?" Moss said, looking sympathetic.

As they approached the queue for the goblins, Jonathan continued, "In any case, I wanted to give you this to take to your father. It's nothing special, but I figured it might bring a smile to his face. I just wanted to do something nice."

Bill took the small package he was holding out and put it into the pocket of his robes. "Thank you. I'll be sure he gets it."

"Good," he added with another one of his smiles that made Bill's internal senses ping. Fleur had said he smiled too much, and he realized his wife was very astute.

"Do you and your family have any holiday plans?" he asked Weasley sociably.

"I have a brother in Romania who might come in, but he might not. He says his work is too busy right now with assistants coming and going all the time. Not everyone is cut out to work with dragons," he said. "Some of my sister's school friends will be coming to stay with us, too."

"Well, it sounds nice," Moss said. "If you're not too busy, maybe I could invite you and your wife over to my place to visit. I know holidays are busy and that it would be an imposition, but it's like I already told you. I'm new here and just trying to make friends where I can."

"Yes, I'll ask her and see what we can do," he replied.

"Wonderful," Jonathan said before he went to talk to his goblin. "And don't forget to give that present to your father!"

He was feeling quite satisfied with his conversation, until an out of breath messenger found him. "Sir! I was supposed to deliver this invitation to you. You weren't in your office, so I had to track you all the way down here."

"Is it important?" he asked without his usual friendliness.

"I don't ask. I just deliver, or the bosses start getting free and easy with the hexes," the messenger replied before returning upstairs to the dispatch point.

Jonathan put the envelope into his pocket and forgot about it once the goblin started asking detailed answers about the Euro's relation to galleons and knuts.

###

§Ginny, are you well?§ Lupin's voice sounded in her head.

§Remus?§ she thought lazily to him. It took a while to come out of her sleep stupor.

§Don't scare me like that. You've been turned off for a while, and I couldn't feel you. I was worried about you,§ he confessed.

§I have been making fires with my mind. It takes so much energy, but I can do it. I just had to rest a while,§ she assured. §And you? What is he doing to you?§

§Our dear Jonathan has been playing with my feet. I think he's getting his juvenile songs and folk tales mixed up. He was babbling about the big bad wolf and the little piggies.§

§He's been cutting your feet?§ she asked in horror.

§He doesn't know that the nails will grow back with the full moon on Sunday night. Maybe he does know. He tells me he's got another spell planned for me then. Whatever it is, it won't be a bubble bath and a box of chocolates,§ he thought wryly.

§When we get out of here,§ she answered with a laughing tone, §I'll get you that box of chocolates. Only the best ones with all your favorite fillings on the inside!§

He laughed with her because it broke the tension. They had been playing that game with each other for a while. He may have promised to take her to The Hague to visit the Escher Museum when they got out of their captivity. He had fun imagining her face as they walked through the art exhibits together. The very thought gave him several simultaneous visceral reactions, and he didn't want to look too deeply into their meanings.

§I want to show you something. Don't panic. I'm just going to step inside you,§ she told him as she was already plotting her move.

§Could you pick a different phrase for that?§ he asked with a mental groan, though curious what she might mean by it.

Then he felt her within him as if she really had moved into his body, and he gasped at the warmth and near pleasure of it. Before this time with her, he would have never thought it possible to share something like this with someone else, and he would be hard pressed to describe it to anyone else.

It seemed, though, that Ginny was interested in more than merely sharing his physical energy. She wanted to show him the magic that lived within her and that by a small degree she allowed to live in him. She showed him her beautiful shield of fire, more radiant than his strongest Patronus and able to scare away his boggart. She thought to him and showed him the symphony of fire that she had been conducting as she practiced in her cell.

§It's _so_ beautiful,§ he replied as an awed sigh.

§And I've been tired because of that,§ she answered proudly. §Have you also been learning anything?§

§I've learned too much, but not the right things. I feel the change in my body with every moment that we get closer to the full moon, but I am not the wolf you seem to want me to be. I'm sorry,§ he added.

§You will be. It just takes the right trigger, and yours is obviously different than mine,§ she replied as she stepped out of his body where she could make her fire live through him.

Remus felt so bereft of her presence when she had returned to herself that he almost wanted to pull her back into him. It was an instinctual urge, but it was amazingly strong. It seemed silly to want to pull her back to him when she was still there in thought with him as she was almost all the time.

Changing subjects, Lupin warned, §Be careful during the full moon. I don't trust that Jonathan's plans concern only me. Stewart may try something again, and I couldn't have that. I couldn't stop him.§

Since this was one of the first times that Remus had approached that line and looked over it, she asked guardedly, §What do you mean?§

§I mean that I could feel everything you felt! I know all that he did to you, and I know as a man what I would have done had we been together. I know how I would have touched you, and… Oh, gods, I can't have this conversation with you, Ginny,§ he replied in a red hot rush of anger and embarrassment.

He quickly withdrew his thoughts away from her and stayed hiding there for a while. There were lines of his own he didn't want to cross with her, and he damned near danced all over them in his clumsy effort to do Merlin knew what. He blamed the moon because it was doing crazy things with his arousal, just as he had told Frank it would do. He tried to make himself believe the convenient lie, but even he couldn't believe it any more.

It was a very long time later when he thought Ginny softly told him, §It would have been different.§

###

The rest of the week before the full moon passed much too quickly for Remus who felt like he was spiraling into the moon's pull. Frank took liberties in his visits, and he didn't resist. In a sick act of self-flagellation he allowed himself to be used as if to bleed off all the tension that was building in his body with no outlet.

In the darkness of his cell after the moonset of the last gibbous moon, Remus Lupin remembered. He remembered it all in clearly faceted detail that he observed and examined with unerring efficiency. The thirty some years of being a werewolf that he tried to deny or forget the other days of the month were now the most precious things he possessed. They were the memories making knowledge, and knowledge was the foundation of power.

No matter what Jonathan might think of him, Remus had immense power. There had been low moments in his life that he almost considered it not worth continuing, but that was not his true and lasting spirit. He renewed his conviction that he had survived far worse than this, and he would not be broken. This, too, like all that had troubled him in his life would pass.

Because he remembered, he did in the darkness alone that which he could not have done with the Marauders around him. Remus chose to become the wolf that lived in his soul. He let go of himself knowing that a life of freedom was better than the life of captivity in Jonathan's chains. He shed his humanity as others shed their clothing. As anything cast off, Remus took the leap of faith that it would be there for him when he returned.

With a minimum of pain and a minimum of time, Remus became a wolf in the true sense of the word. He was not a werewolf possessed of a mindless demon that drove him to commit murderous acts. This wolf had the sentience of a man, and it carried all of his essence with him.

He willed himself to be human again, and he was. He felt his arms and hands as if he had never known them before, and then reached up to touch his face. Remus was himself again, and the revelation was exhilarating. He laughed in triumph.

To be sure that he had not imagined it or made a mistake, Remus tried again to change. When he did it with success he danced in his cell on four legs. This did not hurt him at all. If anything, it was extremely easy for him. His body had thirty years to know how to change into a wolfish shape, but he had kept his mind. This was Remus at his potentially lethal best that no lethargy-inducing Wolfsbane Potion could secure.

The full moon would rise for him this night, but it would be the first time he looked forward to it. He felt the heady exhilaration coupled with the lusts for blood and sex. No matter what the morning light brought, it promised to be one of the most interesting full moons any of them had ever experienced.

He was thus ready for Frank when he came to retrieve him for Jonathan's intended spell. His eyes showed a dangerous gleam as he marched out of his cell with docile cooperation.

###

Jonathan stood at the door to his dungeon with a pleased expression on his face as if he were the grand master of ceremonies at some extravaganza. Whatever his plans might have been, he was wearing protective gear and still managed to look handsome doing it. Theo made a remark that he must have charmed his clothes.

"So the Wizarding world wants two things. A few people want a cure for lycanthropy, and a few others want a cause. I have decided we'll give them both and let them fight over which is 'right' or 'moral.' It is of no importance to me."

To Frank and Robert, he ordered, "Put the werewolf up in chains in the flogging room. I need blood and tissue samples, so be creative when you do it."

To Stewart and Theo with a few of their cronies, Nathaniel being notably absent since the last debacle, Jonathan said, "Bring out the girl and strap her to the table. We have some things we can do with her as well."

He clapped his hands in pleasure, and was distracted by an owl tapping at one of the few windows of his basement dungeon.

"Oh, what is this?" he protested before making a portal to allow the owl inside. The owl dropped the red envelope before taking the portal back to freedom and safety.

"You'd better open that, boss, or it will only get worse," Theo said.

When Jonathan opened the howler, it was from one of the Gringotts executives berating him for not being at the function that he was obligated to attend that night. It had already started, and lateness could not be tolerated. Moss searched his mind to remember if he knew anything about it, and the only thing he could think about was the invitation that he had received on Monday and promptly lost among the things on his desk at work.

"So what are you going to do?" Stewart asked.

With a snarl, he said, "I'm going to go. It seems I have no choice. _Why_ do I even bother making plans? It's like the universe is conspiring against me!"

"You're just not lucky, I guess," Stewart said. "So what do you want us to do with the prisoners… er… guests while you're gone?"

"Beat them," Jonathan said darkly. "Don't kill them, but beat them!"

The wizard slammed his fist on one of the tables that had smaller instruments of torture. They bounced and danced around until they settled. Moss gave a frustrated growl as he went upstairs to change and get to the appointment he hadn't even realized he had.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter comes from "You Can Touch" performed by Crowded House on _Afterglow_.

The title of this chapter was selected by AJRoald. Thanks, AJ. Length-wise, this chapter is the middle of the story. Woo-hoo! Next up... some werewolf mayhem on the full moon.


	23. Bad Moon Rising

**CHAPTER 23:  
Bad Moon Rising**

_But it's nearly time to flip the switch  
And I'm hanging by a single stitch  
Laughing at the stormy face of gloom  
_~Neil Finn

Robert and Frank brought the deceptively tame Moony to the room where they would put him into wrist and ankle cuffs and do with him as Jonathan had asked. The chains were pulled tightly enough that he had very little give with his legs or arms, but it was taut enough that he was suspended as if he were a living example of Leonardo's Vitruvian Man. Frank's admiration was so obvious that he was almost drooling.

"It seems almost a shame to have to do this," Robert said as he looked up at Remus. He had to admit that comments the werewolf had said to him during the last month had gotten to him on some level. It was an uncomfortable realization, but he stayed true to Jonathan's wishes.

One of Stewart's cronies came to the room before Robert or Frank could start the tissue and blood samples. "The boss had to go to London for a business affair. Doesn't know when he'll be back."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me. I keep the social calendar of all his appointments, and I know everything he does. He was supposed to be free tonight," the butler protested.

"I guess he can't tell you what he didn't know. The howler he got was pretty bad, but it was kind of nice to see him on the receiving end for once," he added with a lop-sided grin.

"I've got to go find out what's going on," Robert muttered and walked out of the room, leaving Frank alone with the naked and chained Remus.

"Well, well. I think it's just you and me now, and the full moon is almost up. Are you in the mood for a little danger?" he asked Moony.

"Are _you_?" Moony practically purred back at him. With eyes rolling back in his head with orgasmic delight, he said, "I told you it was the most intense right before the change."

"Oh, I want to find out all about you," Frank said as he ran his finger up and down Lupin's thigh. "I want to feel you and take you all in."

He put his hand around Moony's length, and the werewolf shuddered and let out a whimper. Letting out a self-congratulatory chuckle, Frank said, "I know you like what I can do to you."

"Lick me," Remus begged. "Start near the hair line and then lick me. Like an ice cream in the summer time. Oh, I… I promise you I'll give you the surprise of your life."

The other man laughed at the feeling of power of this werewolf who had once been too proud to suck him begging to receive the same pleasure. He liked being begged. Yes, Frank thought to himself, he rather liked it a lot. But he was not going to give in so easily.

"_Please_," the werewolf asked. "The moon will rise soon, and my change will be complete."

"Well, I'm not into bestiality, even if I do want to lick a werewolf," he said as he got closer to him.

He put his hands on Lupin's hips and started licking all around him, along his abdomen and thighs except where the one place he might want to be licked the most. Frank flicked out his tongue, which elicited tiny moans from the werewolf whose body was already shaking because of the stress of the change and the chains that held him suspended.

Frank delighted in the other man's weakness, and said into his thigh, "This is going to be so good."

"You have no idea," Remus said weakly. "Come closer. Lean into me. I want to feel more of you."

He arched his back as if trying to greedily thrust out his hips at the man who nuzzled him so intimately. When Frank obliged, he got closer and repositioned himself at the crux of the other man's legs so he could have easier access.

Lupin smiled wide, easy and slowly before telling him, "You look good down there. Enjoy the view. It will be the last thing you see."

He squeezed his legs together around Frank's neck as hard as he could. Though he struggled and fought back by clawing at his thighs, Remus had too strong of a hold on him. Moony then bent his knees and quickly shifted his point of balance while still squeezing with all his might, effectively snapping the other man's neck. When he released the vice-like hold of his legs, Frank slumped brokenly down to the floor underneath him.

"At least you went with a smile on your face. Bastard." Remus heaved with the effort of having removed the problem of Frank.

He then thought to the primal place within himself where his wolf had lived, and for the first time before the soon coming light of a full moon, Remus Lupin willed himself to change. As his body reshaped itself and fell out of the bindings that had been surrounding it, he had one clear mission. Find Ginny.

###

She could not feel Remus in her mind any more, at least not the human Remus she had learned to know so intimately over the last five weeks or so. Instead, she felt again the feral mind of madness that came from the lunar change. He hadn't been like this when Jonathan's fake moonlight had surrounded him. This real moonlight was the only thing that could break the power of her magic within him.

So Ginny continued to think of the fires of a thousand suns flowing within his veins so that the light of the moon would not hurt him. She felt again that protective instinct that he should never be hurt again. It was silly, she told herself. He was a grown man who didn't need her protection! But she knew he did because they were intertwined as if two sides of one coin.

Her meditation was interrupted by a few of Stewart's friends that she did not know. She was held at wand-point and taken to the room with the big table that she had been chained to so many times since her imprisonment here. It was the place where Jonathan had given her the non-scarification charm, and it was the place where both she and Remus had survived the Full Moonlight Spell. The table was no place of joy for her.

"Where's Jonathan?" she asked, noticing immediately that he was not there. Was he with Remus hurting him? He had warned her of their tormentor's intentions.

"He's not here," Stewart said sweetly with a shrug to show that none of the others in the room were Jonathan's regulars. "He had to quickly away to London. Who would have imagined the luck, especially with pre-existing plans for you and that werewolf of yours?"

Though she wanted to ask him where Remus was, she didn't take the bait. She stared at the men calculating the odds that she could disable them with a fireball and search for the werewolf. She had the thought that if she just found him, then everything else would be okay. She had to find Remus, and the pounding thought as the moon increased its force was almost a mania in her head.

"He told us to beat you," Stewart said with a dreamy tilt of his head, "but I don't think we're going to do that. No, I think each of us is going to take you one by one while the others watch. I already know what a tight little body you have, and why can't my friends enjoy some of that? This _is_ the time for holiday sharing."

He took a lock of her hair as he told her of his impending plans, and it took all of Ginny's reserve not to shrink away from him. Then he took the thin dress she wore, the one gift Jonathan had given her in this place, and pulled it until it tore into shreds. He then saw the small gold necklace from her father that she still managed to keep. He sighed at the delicacy of it, but he grabbed it and wrenched it from around her neck to throw it at the farthest reaches of the room.

"Strap her to the table, but use enough give to make it interesting," he ordered.

One of the men who was with him, a mere boy, really, asked him, "Why don't you just use Petrificus Totalus on her?"

Stewart stopped mid rant, and looked at the young man as if he couldn't believe what had just come out of his mouth. "If I wanted someone who didn't move during sex, I would go home to my wife, you idiot."

"I didn't know you were married," he said before Stewart struck him in the face.

"Well, other than him, line up, boys. It's time to have a little ginger in your lives," he said as he went to pet Ginny's hair and supervise the forced actions of the other men. Stewart was clearly saving himself for last.

###

In the other parts of the dungeon, Remus the wolf had fully changed into Moony the werewolf, but unlike the more than thirty years of transformations before this one, his body did not hurt. It was like a change of attitude or stepping out the door when you were already walking outside. The Remus he knew himself to be went into hiding while the feral Moony searched for the beautiful girl filled with fire that he had claimed as his own. His werewolf eyes never remembered much color, but he remembered her and wanted her completely.

He stalked from room to room looking for the spark of fire that drew him as surely as the pole drew a magnet north. He found men instead, stinking evil men with bad intentions. They were men who would hurt and take what was his. He knew this with absolute certainty, and he went to track each of them one by one like the expert and cunning hunter he was.

He lifted his nose to the air and calculated the number of people who were there. One person had a scent he recognized with indifference. This man he would not kill. Little did Robert know it would be his one forgiveness in the crimes against Ginny. There would be no others.

Moony waited in the shadows as another wizard passed, and he lunged forward to grab him at the ankle. He disabled the man quickly by cutting his Achilles tendon with a bite. With his clawed forepaw he shredded his wand hand, and snuffed the life out of him by ripping his throat out.

Then he slunk into the room where he could smell Ginny's scent. Her personal tones were mixed with ones of people who didn't need to be there, who didn't need to be touching his perfect and precious thing. The werewolf restrained the possessive growl that wanted to come out of his throat at the repugnant act being performed before him.

His wolfish eyes which did not see in color except for Ginny's fire registered that she looked differently than she had when he'd seen her before. Her fire burned within her more completely and surely yet it seemed weaker somehow as if all these human men robbed her of the very essence that gave her joy.

The werewolf mind was not good at counting, but the tactician that lived within him knew that he had to lure some of the men out. Otherwise, they would be blasting curses at him with their wands. While werewolves knew no fear, he knew to keep his beloved out of harm's way, and he had to lure more of the men out of the room.

He took the wand from the hand of the man he had already killed by picking up with his mouth, and he swung his head around in hopes to make any residual magic fire out of the wand. He aimed toward the distance and hoped the sound would attract attention, and then he dropped the wand to hide again in the shadows.

The ruse must have worked as Stewart sent out two people with wands drawn looking into the hallway. The werewolf let out his first growl to warn them that he was there. To the first one, he jumped immediately to the throat to sever the jugular vein as he had done with the first one. Instead of firing on him, the second man ran away, and Moony gave chase, taking him down as easily as a lion would a wounded antelope on the Serengeti.

He studied them again and thought how he could bring the men to him and away from the flaming beautiful thing that he saw fading before his eyes. He watched as one touched her in a way that no one other than himself should ever be allowed to do, and the werewolf let out the first reverberant growl that shook the hallway where he was waiting.

He watched as one of the men, a mere boy, wet himself at the sound of the werewolf's call, and he was satisfied in his menace. There would be more yet.

"Don't stand there looking stupid!" Stewart cursed. "Go out and hex him!"

"I can't take on a full grown werewolf," he trembled.

"If you don't go hex him, I will curse you. Do you understand me?" he asked with no kindness in his voice. "Go, and don't come back until you kill it."

"But Jonathan wants…" he started.

"Jonathan is _not_ here," Stewart said maliciously. "So now you get to be the tasty werewolf treat. Or you get to kill him. You only really have two choices right now. Man up and go see what he's doing."

The boy walked out of the room, but Stewart never saw him again. The time that remained in his own life would be too short to give pause to think about the boy again. Instead, he looked at the bound Ginny as he loosed his robes and prepared to fill her one more time with the biggest arousal he had ever had. Who knew taking a girl like this with witnesses would be so amazing for his libido?

It was when he was thrusting within her that Ginny let her voice wail in hopes that her human speech organ could reach in him a way that her mind could not, thanks to the moon's dissonance. "Moony! Help!"

"Did you hear that, boys? The werewolf has a name. Maybe he'll respond to her call," Stewart said with a rat-faced smile as he continued.

One of the two who remained with him, spoke with a breaking voice. "Do you want us to silence her?"

"Are you kidding? I like it when they fight!" he said as he put his fingers around Ginny's throat, her small body shuddering against his pushes.

Ginny would never know why she wasn't able to use her fire magic that night. She should have burned him and found the werewolf to escape. She should have killed him all too many times over, but she could only cry and hope that the werewolf found her. Even if he killed her, it would be a mercy compared to the repeated rape she lived through in this dungeon.

Her heart ached for Moony to come, and she did what she always did. She sent him thoughts of need, home and acceptance. She begged him to come to her more than anything else she had ever begged for in her life.

He came walking into the room as if he had not a care in the world. His only intent was killing Stewart. The two who were with him tried firing curses, but neither one of them was good enough of an aim to do any harm to the determined Moony. He jumped up to bite the wand arm of one who shot a stunning curse at his cohort. He then took his claws and ripped the man's throat out. Without a backwards look, he quickly jumped over to the body of the man who was stunned on the floor and killed him with the same efficiency he had used to plow through the rest of Stewart's group of friends.

"You!" Stewart accused as he looked at the werewolf snarling at him. "Is this the part where you think you'll kill me, too?"

He had pulled out of Ginny and was facing Moony with his robes still open.

The werewolf seemed to be listening to Stewart, but his lupine gaze snapped to Ginny when she let out a moan of pain. He let out a full throated call in answer to her, and then charged forward to just below the man's center of mass. He latched his teeth around the genitalia that he had used as a weapon against the person Moony most wanted to protect. He bit them off completely and then spat them out like the offensive things they were. The rapist stumbled and fell to the floor on his back.

Stewart fingered his wand to try to blast a curse at the werewolf, but Moony reached his mouth around his wrist and crushed it. Then he meticulously and completely broke the bones in his arms and legs while he bled out all over the floor. With every moan that Ginny made, the werewolf broke a bone or bit off a part of him. He did it slowly so he would not die a fast death as had the others he had killed to get to her. He made sure Stewart knew he was being killed, that he was fulfilling the promise as Moony the werewolf that Remus the man had given him.

He stayed with him until he was sure the breath of life within him was gone and Stewart, the defiler of his mate, was completely gone to all worlds.

After that, the werewolf jumped up to the table where Ginny was still held captive. She cried out in pain for body and soul as he slowly sniffed her to make sure she was real. He twisted his head to and fro as he studied her, but then after a time he became satisfied that she was the one he had marked at the previous moon. She had the lick of fire living within her, the very thing that made her the only colored thing he could see through his werewolf eyes.

He bent his head to her, not to bite and kill as he had done to those men, but to offer his care and submission to the only other wild beast whose power rivaled his own. Then he began moving above her protectively. Everywhere there had been a mark of carnage, Moony licked it away. He licked all over her belly and chest until the last drops of blood and gore were gone, but he did not touch her where the others had been. Ginny whimpered and cried softly as he did so because her gentle werewolf could not make the memories of those men so readily go away.

After he finished cleaning her, the werewolf stood for a long while above her in a defensive position, guarding her body with his and proclaiming her in his wordless way to be his own. He stayed that way almost all night long, but in the last hours of the darkness he lay on top of her and succumbed to sleep.

###

When Remus woke in the morning, the first thing he noticed was that he didn't have the same werewolf headache that had continually plagued him the mornings after all previous full moons like the worst of a hangover without the benefit of enjoying the alcohol. He felt in possession of himself in a way he had never known before. It was strange and wonderful.

He breathed in and then realized he had been sleeping on top of Ginny. He could feel her underneath him from head to toe, from the softness of her thighs and the breast that had cushioned his head as he slept to the hard bones of her ribs and hips. He could feel how their bodies fit each other as if they were a puzzle made to be put together.

His human and werewolf senses all shouted out to him a feeling of supreme belonging as he looked down at her. As he watched her, Ginny woke with a start and stared straight into his silvered eyes, the ones that had become part of her dreams.

"Remus?" she asked him in whisper.

He smiled tentatively at her as he stared into the loveliest set of brown eyes he had ever seen. With a sigh of relief, he spoke the word, "Yes."

She let out a shaky laugh of release, and then Remus reacted quickly. He reached over Ginny's head to open the restraints holding her wrists. Once her arms were free, he pulled her gently into a sitting position, cradling her body against his while his hands found their way into her hair. He tried to speak the words in his heart but realized they got stuck in his throat. Instead, they spilled out his eyes as tears.

Ginny tried not to flinch at his touch, but she couldn't help it in the wake of the abuse Stewart had given her. He felt her distress and tried to calm her with gentle shushing noises. They only served to make the small hairs along her spine stand at attention as she felt the passage of his breath over her skin. It was too much sensation for her, and she urged him to take it slowly and let her set the pace.

He moved back from her to stand on the floor, though he was loathe to stop touching her once he had her. He opened the restraints on her ankles until she was finally free of the torture table that had been used as her implement of doom for too long. He then took her fingertips in his so he could maintain the physical contact with her that he so desired. He stepped back from her so he could see all of her with his eyes, and allowed her to see him as he was completely unadorned.

For the long moments in which she did not speak to him in mind or body, Ginny looked at him, this man who would be her rescuer and her soul mate. He could not read her expression, so he waited for whatever her decision over him might be. He dipped his head and almost looked like a shy boy under her scrutiny.

When she was ready, Ginny inched forward to the edge of the table, and slowly pulled him into her arms, wrapping them around his shoulders. He leaned his face against hers as he placed his hands on the back of her hips. He seemed to breathe her in, and his breath across her too sensitive skin still made the rush of electricity spike from her lower back up her spine. She willed herself not to panic and to breathe slowly because it was Remus who was with her.

As he pulled his face away from hers, his lips brushed against her skin, making her breath hitch in her throat. He wasn't actually kissing her, but the passage of his skin over hers made another rush of sensation that she had to fight to keep under control. While she took deep centering breaths, he gazed upon her with eyes that hungered for the sight of her nearly as much as his skin longed to touch her.

"You are _so_ beautiful," he finally said, his voice dry and scratchy.

"No more than you," she answered, her face filled with the light of wonder.

She reached her fingertip out to touch his chest, and as he shuddered at the simple pleasure of it, Ginny realized two very important things. She felt him through her own skin and knew all her own sensations, as would any normal human being. Through the mental link they shared, though, she knew exactly what it felt like for him to be receiving the touch from her that he so craved. While it shouldn't have been a surprise to either one of them that their link would remain when they had physical closeness, neither one of them had taken the time to ponder what would actually happen if they were given an opportunity to discover each others' bodies.

Testing the theory, she leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his chest near the arrow scar he bore. She remembered that he had been shot because of her and that this was a new addition to the story his skin told. He gasped as her lips touched him, and he softly whined as he felt her lips offer their touch again while her hair subtly tickled every part of his body that it wildly touched.

Ginny pulled away from him and laughed softly. She hadn't been wrong. They could feel each other from within and without, and it was compounded by echoes inside each other as if it were a giant feedback loop. It was also in the moment that she knew without a doubt that if she ever shared physical intimacy with anyone else in her life ever again, even though she might enjoy it, none of those sensations would ever compare to what it would feel like if it were Remus who was with her.

The realization seemed to hit him just as forcefully because he took a step back as if he'd been struck. He gathered her hands in his and kissed the knuckles to still her.

"I can't deny what I want. It would be useless to lie to you, but…" he sighed, "we have to go. Let's get out of here before that asshole comes back."

She nodded and hopped off the edge of the table into his waiting arms. He held her protectively as he looked left and right trying to figure out the best route out of the dungeon. He also listened to the upstairs wondering if there was a Floo there that could be used.

"Let's go this way," he said as he intended to go out the same way Moony had entered the night before.

Ginny's eyes widened as she stepped around the dismembered and barely recognizable remains of Stewart. The werewolf had not been merciful to him, and she could not say she was sorry for what he'd done. The part of her that he had hurt had a secret satisfaction in the trail of bodies they passed, though she didn't see a sign of Jonathan in any of them.

"Remus?" she asked aloud.

He turned his face to her, his features immediately softening as he looked upon her where she stood within the boundary of his arm. "Yes?"

"Where's Jonathan?" she asked.

"Right here," the man in question intoned from behind them.

At the sound of his voice, Remus immediately turned, putting Ginny protectively behind his back. He looked into the room and saw Moss with his wand drawn at them. Robert was hovering quietly behind him, his wand at ready should he need it.

"This is why we can't have nice things!" Jonathan said maniacally. "You werewolves come and take everything as if it is yours. Except for this. What is this, Robert?"

"Stewart, sir," Robert answered as his boss toed one of the larger sections of torso that had been severed from his spine.

"Well, I never really liked him anyway," he replied calmly. "Too insouciant."

Ginny began crying behind Lupin's back. They had been so close to freedom that it was nearly tangible. He kept walking backward slowly, guiding her out of the dungeon while keeping his eyes on Jonathan.

Moss rolled his eyes as if unimpressed with their effort at escape. Then he aimed a hex that Ginny could not hear, and Lupin fell in front of her. She instinctually started a fireball in her hands, but she was unable to use it because Robert immediately hexed her. She, too, fell, landing on the body of Remus.

Whatever hex had been used, Ginny could not keep her eyes open, and her consciousness faded into black.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter is from "Instinct" performed by Crowded House on the album _Recurring Dream_.

I wrote all the werewolf kill scenes while listening on repeat to "Lovestoned/I Think She Knows (Interlude)" by Justin Timberlake, Boyce Avenue and John Mayer. I just find that supremely funny to write kill! murder! maim! scenes while listening to such a pretty song.


	24. Memories and Motion

**CHAPTER 24:  
Memories and Motion**

_Ooh tell me please why it takes so long  
To realize when there's something wrong  
_~Neil Finn

**Marauders, Summer 1978**

After their graduation from Hogwarts, the Marauders had immediately joined the fighting to resist the power of the Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It was Potter's heroic idea since he felt himself and his group of friends to be the cleverest and most mischievous wizards of their age. His confidence extended to romance when he impetuously asked Lily Evans to marry him right before they finished their training.

"It will be great, Lily! We'll be together, and we shouldn't let the stupid war dictate what we do with our lives. Marry me, Evans. You know you want me as much as I want you," he added, looking at her like the delightful imp he could be.

No matter what she might have thought of the quality of the proposal, Lily had accepted, but the wedding was kept extremely private and low key. It would not have done to be extravagant because James no longer had living relatives, and Lily only had her sister who hated the magical world.

Sirius had been Potter's best man, and it shouldn't have really been a surprise that he had been chosen over Remus or Peter. The ceremony had been simple, but they had shone like glistening diamonds in the prime of their youth. Even Lupin, though dressed in his used and battered clothing, couldn't repress the happiness he felt in that moment.

The Potters had an exciting first year of marriage, and Lily's husband had a scoundrel nature that did not disappear with the whispers of marriage vows. James was much involved with the daring-do, and that was what had first put him and his wife on the Dark Lord's radar.

The excitement of this time of chaos was all over the rest of the Wizarding World, too. It was perhaps that first year after graduation along with his years at Hogwarts that Remus had been his happiest. It was during the years between the wars while the rest of the world was happy and relieved that Remus went through his own personal valley of darkness because of all that had been taken from him.

###

**Gringotts Wizarding Bank**

On Monday afternoon, Bill Weasley knocked on Jonathan's office door. The normally composed man looked up from his papers with a stressed expression and tragic disarray all around him. Bill tried to think the best of the man, something he generally tried to do of all people unless they proved him irredeemably wrong, and he thought that maybe Jonathan's lack of poise was due to extra stress brought on by the holiday season.

"I didn't see you this morning, so I wanted to check on you," Weasley said.

"I had some… problems to fix," he said with a sigh.

Jonathan impatiently gestured for Bill to take the seat opposite his desk, so he walked in while habitually checking the environment for curses and charms. Because of his line of work, it was something he had learned to do in every new situation. This way of working had won the hearty and vocal approval of Mad-Eye Moody.

"Are you going to be okay?" Bill asked with concern after he sat.

Jonathan shook his head in exasperation. "There was a special event yesterday that I didn't know about. I get a howler summoning me to it, so I had to rush there leaving my _dog_ unattended. When I got home, he had destroyed nearly everything in my house, and to add insult to injury, the bosses called me into the head offices this morning to tell me in explicit detail how displeased they were about being late to the event. So I am _not_ having a good Monday!"

Bill winced sympathetically. "I'm sorry about the howler, man. My mother has skill with those. As for your dog, ave you ever thought of putting a muzzle on it?"

"I have, actually," he answered with a tired laugh.

"Well… I came to tell you two things. First of all, my father loved whatever little trinket you got him. He immediately rushed to his garage to play with it, and my mother said he didn't come out for hours."

"Oh, good," Jonathan said softly.

"The other thing is that if you're up for guests, since you'd extended the invitation to Fleur and myself, we could visit on Wednesday or Thursday if that is okay with you. We won't be able to stay long because we have several engagements while making all necessary the holiday appearances. You, of all people, would understand that. My wife did say, though, she would like the chance to get to know you better since your meeting at the Leaky Cauldron was so short," he said.

All of Bill's second point was a lie. When he told Fleur about Moss's invitation, she said she had no interest in seeing that smiling man at all. He just felt so bad about Jonathan's rough day that he tried to help make it better by giving him the one thing he said he'd wanted. He and Fleur did have other plans on both those nights, so if it was not going well, they could beg off with legitimate reasons. He hoped she'd understand when he explained it to her later.

"I would really like that," Jonathan said, perking up with great interest. "Thank you! How about drinks Thursday evening then? I obviously need some time to clean up after my dog mess, but I'd love to have you over."

"Well then," Bill said as he stood up. "I'll see you on Thursday. Would you like us to bring any special type of host gift?"

Acting like his normal ebullient self, Jonathan said, "Oh, no! Thank you, though. It sounds to me that your mother must have taught you some excellent manners. Please give her my regards when you see her."

"I will," Weasley said somewhat flatly as he watched Moss act like a new man. He offered his words of parting and then walked out of the man's office to go do his own work.

###

**Marauders, September 1980**

While James and Lily were settling into marital bliss, including their amazingly quick pregnancy—something the men enjoyed teasing James about mercilessly—the relationship between Remus and Sirius was spiraling out of control. Remus could not find work as a known werewolf, though he was one of the most capable and competent wizards to have ever come out of Hogwarts. Sirius was taking too many risks with his life, risks that Lupin felt were unnecessary.

His feelings were compounded by Black's obvious desire to be with James as best mates as they had always done. Remus had never worried that Padfoot had wanted James as a lover. It was clear, though, that even after seven years of school and the marriage of one their friend, Sirius perhaps preferred his relationship with Potter over the one he had with Moony.

The truth of the matter was that the root of bitterness and jealousy had taken hold in Lupin's heart. He tried not to feed it, but it soon grew on its own. He would have raging self-doubt that was not comforted by Sirius and his swashbuckling ways.

Then others began to distrust him simply because he was a werewolf, something that he could not change no matter how he wished it. During that time of his life he had hoped and prayed more intently than ever before for the lycanthropy cure that never came. He felt in his heart like the pariah who was attached to the belle of the ball, and it was really only a matter of time before they would self-destruct.

The final straw came when Sirius was chosen over him to be Harry's godfather. The boy was born perfect, and no two parents could love their child more. When James had proposed to make Sirius the godfather, it went right along with how Sirius had always been preferred above all others, but Remus wanted to lavish attention on the young boy in more than the special uncle kind of way.

"James, why Sirius?" he had asked before they were to officially make Black Harry's godfather.

Potter, who knew exactly what Remus was asking, paused and spoke seriously. "It's because of the fact that if anything happens to us, he can best take care of Harry. He's got the financial means to do it and a respectable name in the Wizarding World. You have none of that," James concluded by placing his hand on his friend's shoulder.

Lupin angrily shook off the hand James offered because it was not the answer he wanted to hear.

"Remus," he barked, demanding attention, "this isn't a matter of favorites. It's pure pragmatism. We have a war going on, in case you haven't noticed."

Still annoyed, Moony spat, "So now, besides not having enough money or a good enough name for you, I'm too stupid to see the obvious? I can't listen to this tripe from someone I thought was my friend."

James looked back at him with an expression as immovable as granite. "If it were only about love, my son would have three godfathers. This is my and Lily's decision, and your agreement is not required."

It was after that decision that Remus and Sirius had the fight to end all fights that was no mere lovers' quarrel. When the words were over and the dust settled around them, the two young men were no longer a couple and wouldn't see each other again until after James and Lily's tragic deaths, but it wouldn't be until after the end of Harry's third year that they finally had any reconciliation.

For too many years Remus would carry with him the guilt of wondering if his own weakness at the time and the breaches in communication and the hurts caused by petty jealousies had a direct relation to the Potters choosing Peter Pettigrew as their Secret Keeper. That was one question to which he would never get a definitive answer.

###

Ginny awoke with tear-stained eyes from dreams in which Sirius had been the star yet again. These were no dreams of her own. They couldn't have been. Remus was thinking about his dead lover, and the more he did it, the more it hurt her. She didn't want to be petty and upset over nothing, but she couldn't seem to control it. She hoped she was guarding it safely from him, but it was quite likely true that she wasn't. In her heart, she didn't understand why it wasn't _her_ who was on his mind.

In their moment of connection during that brief physical contact, she felt her whole world shift. It wasn't enough to have intrinsic fire magic and to be able to communicate telepathically with a werewolf. No, she knew she was forever his, and it scared the hell out of her to think that she would never love another person the way she loved him.

Ginny's mother Molly would have told her she was being too dramatic, but she wasn't sure how to contain all she felt. Remus was the only thing that had made sense to her. In him, she was so sure of herself. But the shared content of his dreams felt like a rejection of her somehow as if he had been given a choice and still preferred Sirius even though Black was dead.

She cried again, tired to the core for still being in Jonathan's chamber. She lamented the possibility of ever being able to get out of the place. Freedom had been within her grasp. If only she had not stopped to touch Remus, however fleeting those touches had been. If only she had been able to use her fire magic to free them both. Surely she could have done something. She'd been practicing and building and trying _so_ hard.

But in the end, none of that mattered. She was still in a cell, and it seemed that Remus wanted nothing to do with her. She ached again at the thought of his rejection. It hurt as if she had been stabbed in the heart.

Feeling groggy from his jumbled dreams, Lupin woke up to feel Ginny's pain, which was confused and different than the other pains she had suffered in this place. His own heart ached for her, but he wasn't sure how to handle himself, either. Remus _had_ been dreaming of Sirius, but it was not because he was rejecting Ginny or the connection they had made.

No, it was a much stupider reason than that. He felt guilty. His mind manufactured innumerable reasons but they usually revolved around the fact that he should not be able to move on from Sirius as if he hadn't been important to him at all. And worse yet, it was with a mere girl, one who was young enough to be his daughter under different circumstances. That made him feel dirty somehow.

If they ever got free of this place, could he stand with his head held high and look her father in the eye and admit to him the feelings he had for his teenage daughter? Could he tell the world the thing that he had not yet come to terms with himself? He didn't think he was a strong enough man to allow himself to have what he most wanted.

To avoid thinking of it further, he practiced changing in and out of his wolf form until it became easy and comfortable in his body. To her credit, Ginny had been right that his body knew what shape to take and would do so readily. The more he practiced, the faster he got at doing it. Then he attempted partial transformations in case they were necessary. A set of claws in a fight, especially in Jonathan's dungeon would be useful if the right opportunities presented themselves.

It was finally Ginny who ended their telepathic version of radio silence. §Remus, are you okay? I haven't heard from you since that morning…§

§No, I am not okay,§ he replied truthfully after a while. There was so much wrong in this place, he wasn't even close to being okay.

§But are _we_ okay?§ she asked him, wincing because she feared his answer. §Are you angry at me for not getting us out when we had the chance?§

He had been so wrapped up in himself that it had not occurred to him that she would interpret his silence that way. §No, I'm not angry. Not at you, anyway. At Jonathan. At myself. But not you.§

§Why are you angry at yourself?§ she asked since she couldn't imagine a reason for him to feel that way. §You were wonderful. You nearly got us free. You were as amazing as you had been in the Department of Mysteries, but of course different. You are a beautiful and fearsome werewolf, Remus.§

§Thank you,§ he acknowledged. Then he added, §I've been taking a ride on the guilt train, first class passage for one.§

§Oh, I think I have a seat on that train somewhere,§ she told him, and he appreciated the biting wit to match his own.

§I just…§ Ginny added rawly, §I just _miss_ you. It hurts even more know that I've actually seen you. Before, you could have been a figment of my crazy imagination, but now I know you're entirely too real.§

§I miss you, too,§ he admitted and sighed to himself. They absolutely had to get out of this prison if it was the last thing they ever did.

###

On the morning of Thursday, December 18th, Jonathan came into Ginny's cell before he went to work at the bank. It was the first time she had seen him since they had been recaptured Monday morning, and she shrank far away from him.

He had his wand drawn on her and proclaimed, "I'm going to make this quick, so don't try anything. This evening, your brother and his beautiful French wife are going to join me for drinks right back here. They'll be upstairs in my study. You remember that room, I'm sure. I showed it to you when I found out that I actually knew who you were, Ginevra."

His eyes widened, and his mouth took on an exaggerated jester's smile. Then he continued to tell her his plans. "It should be pretty entertaining, so I think I'll let you watch. Right here on your wall, in fact. That way when your brother comes here you'll be able to see him, and more than anything you'll know one important thing. You will never be free of me, little scarlet. You, I will break."

When he was done threatening her, he walked out of her cell, locking it firmly behind him.

###

Fleur had met Bill at work, and they Apparated to Jonathan's home with him. The host was not noticing the dagger stares the young French woman was giving her husband. Whenever he looked her way, she turned on her veela charm and acted the perfect example of French deportment. Bill knew he was going to have to pay for it later, but he had explained that it was only cocktails. They could quickly leave to their next appointment of the evening.

"I'd like to show you to my library," he told the couple. "I have some books you might like, and as my first friends since I have taken my job, I would like to give each of you one. Before you consider saying no, don't forget that it is the holidays!"

"That is a very nice offer, Jonathan, but we couldn't possibly accept," Bill said.

"Oh, of course you can," he insisted. "But let me make sure the fire is roaring and toasty first."

He went into the room and made a show of checking the fire, but in reality he was making sure his transmission spell was working enough to bring the pictures and sound right down to Ginny's cell whether she wanted to see them or not. Once he was sure it was set, he gave a little wink and cheeky wave in the direction of the fire before going back to her brother and sister-in-law.

"Where's your dog?" Fleur asked casually as she sat down on the divan.

Upon hearing that, Ginny in her cell exclaimed in disgust, "Dog? He told her he had a _dog_?"

"Downstairs. I wanted to keep it out of the way so it wouldn't get into things tonight. I was telling your husband it made a big mess of things the other night. I was almost too embarrassed to have you over," he said as he handed her a glass of some type of alcohol or other. From her post of watching, Ginny couldn't be too sure what it was.

"I brought him some toys," Fleur said. "Maybe he needs something to play with as you spend long days at work. A bored dog can be destructive."

He took the gift and smiled at her as his eyes danced with merriment. "Chew toys for my dog. Well! I will surely have to give these to him. You are _so_ considerate. I must tell you that your English is impeccable."

"She has worked very hard at it, but my wife is naturally brilliant," Bill bragged as he casually looked at Jonathan's books. "You have a nice collection. Wow! This is interesting! I've seen some rare books when trying to retrieve treasure from cursed tombs, but I've only ever heard about this one."

"What is it?" Moss asked as he got closer to look at the book that Bill had found. It was a thin volume pertaining to werewolf mating rituals. He became suddenly interested in it, but laughed it off by saying, "I forgot I had this one! That's what happens with such a large library."

Once Bill sat down, Jonathan handed him a nice leather-bound volume that he thought was an appropriate gift for a curse breaker. "It's about the Muggle explorers in Egypt at the end of the Nineteenth Century. I realize you may already have this, but it has hand written annotations by the author."

"Thank you very much," Bill replied.

He had already seen the book. In fact, he knew of several annotated copies of the book because of his line of work. None of them were actually worth anything because the author had been an idiot, but it was an attempt at a nice gesture from someone who didn't know any better. He was already thinking ahead to when he could unload it on one of his trainees.

Moss sat down near Fleur, much too close for her to be comfortable, so she gave him a subtly icy stare. Watching down below, Ginny approved of this. When she got out of his dungeon, she was planning on having a much better relationship with her sister-in-law. Any woman who could immediately see through Jonathan's insincere charm was someone worth knowing.

"I was telling your husband that I was hoping we could be friends," he started but was interrupted.

"You already said this to both of us. What is it about you that you think is unlovable?" she asked him, skewering him with her glance.

Weasley gasped at his wife's directness and tried to laugh it off to their host by saying it was something that didn't translate as politely from French. Of course, since he'd just complimented her excellent English, both men knew he was doing his best to damage control the situation.

"Why I am very lovable, but my family are dead. My childhood friends live far away. The truth is, I get lonely during the holidays. Don't we all? And… I guess I felt sympathy, too, for your family because I knew you were missing Bill's sister. It must hurt so much, not knowing where she is or how to find her," he added, his eyes appearing wide and too curious.

Ginny watched his manipulation of her family. He was a master of approaching the pain and living vicariously through it. She wondered if he would bore of her once he had become sated with their reactions.

Then an idea came to mind that was so desperate she had to try it. She mentally beat herself for not being able to free them after the full moon, but not all was lost. Perhaps if she could send something to the fire, she could tell Bill and Fleur where she was! She had never tried writing with fire, but anything was worth a shot in such heinous circumstances.

As Jonathan continued to speak to Bill and Fleur to gather more information about Ginny and her disappearance, the young woman in question concentrated her fire magic to try to write in flames the word HELP. Moss had his back to the fireplace where she was sending her message, so she hoped he would not see it. She wanted to catch the attention of Fleur more than anything. Bill, she noticed, was too wrapped in his sadness to properly look Jonathan's way. It did give her some comfort to see that her brother cared so much, but she preferred to be free than dwell on the sadness.

Fleur was losing patience with her host and was not looking to the fireplace to see the work that Ginny was doing. If she had, she would have hexed the man right away and gone to the dungeon to free her. Instead, she felt disgusted just being in the same room with the man. First he was smiling too much, and now he was acting too pitiful. He repulsed her, even if she couldn't state concrete reasons why.

So though Ginny was trying desperately to reach her, the young Mrs. Weasley finally told Jonathan that she was sorry to visit and leave so quickly. She and Bill had a different function for _her_ job, and he could surely understand the necessity of not missing it. She used one of his tactics and gave appropriate sympathetic remarks about his misadventure on Sunday evening.

Jonathan glowered at her when she turned her back, but he acted pleasant to their faces when showing them out of his home. Once they were gone, he angrily threw one of the dog toys into the fireplace in a fit of rage. He almost noticed the writing that was nearly burned into the bricks thanks to Ginny's fire magic, but he was too determined to take the rest of the dog toys and go shove one down the werewolf's throat.

###

Jonathan stormed into the dungeon immediately to Ginny's cell. He held one of the dog toys in his hand and used it to gesture at her.

"So did you see them? Your precious family who have no idea you're here. They grieve for you. Your brother can't even talk about how he feels, yet they go on with brave faces. Did you see them? How did it make you feel?" he asked, angry and trying to taunt her.

Because he had rarely let his own cool slip before, Ginny decided to act like nothing was bothering her. "I know my sister-in-law has you figured out, and she'll tell my brother soon. So whatever game you think you're playing with them, it won't go on for long. Did you seriously think just letting me see them would be enough to hurt me? I think you're losing your touch."

Then she looked at his hand. "Nice dog toy. You told them you had a _dog_? It's like you want to be caught and have them know it's you. You're not amoral, Jonathan, but you certainly are criminal."

It was the most she had ever said to him other than the time she had asked for and received the clothing that she had worn for a brief time.

"I'm going to give that dog this treat all right, and maybe he'll break his teeth on it. Do you know how hard Robert had to work to clean up the mess he left?"

Ginny smirked. "No, and I doubt you do, either. You had _Robert_ do your cleaning and couldn't get your delicate finger dirty, I'm sure."

He started to move forward as if to strike her, but he thought better of it at the last minute. He had to remember to be the calm person in control. "Ginny Weasley, I am going to break you. I promise you. And when we're done, we'll see who is laughing then."

She wanted to taunt him that he couldn't break her. She'd learned plenty of trash talk while playing Quidditch with her brothers and again at school. But she couldn't let herself do it. So she opted for minimalism.

"You're right. We'll see," she answered and then sat down in her corner as if bored and dismissing Jonathan from her presence.

When he left, possibly to go see Remus as he had threatened, the werewolf questioned her about what Moss had been on about. Ginny told him how he had been trying to gloat about her family's visit and that he now had toys to share with him.

§They probably aren't any of the kind of toys I like,§ he replied with a saucy edge, §but since I used to date a dog Animagus, I know their usefulness.§

§Oh, Remus, I don't think that's a mental image I wish to have!§ she protested.

§What?§ he asked in feigned innocence. §A little bit of chase the ball is good exercise. What did you _think_ I meant?§

§You prat!§ she joked. Then more seriously she asked, §Tell me about Sirius. Tell me about the two of you together.§

§Where should I begin?§ he asked, realizing he had to be honest with her about who he had been if he was going to give her who he was.

§Start somewhere in the middle and jump around until you get to the end,§ she thought with a smile and waited for his story.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter came from "Now We're Getting Somewhere" by Crowded House on the album _Crowded House_.


	25. Glad Tidings and Christmas Cheer

**CHAPTER 25:  
Glad Tidings and Christmas Cheer**

_Spring back elastic heart, We are not angry now,  
Somehow we both dissolve,  
All our weight is gone, and tenderness is ours again  
_~Neil Finn

**Lupin Lodge, July 1994**

Sirius approached Remus's little cottage in his dog form, watching the man through the windows as he moved around his house. He wasn't sure if Lupin was ready for him, but as with much of their history, he was willing to take the plunge. After all, Dumbledore had told him to take refuge here, and Remus hadn't actually told him he was unwelcome.

He let out a dog howl that stopped Lupin washing dishes and made him stare out the window. Moony scanned the bushes and went to the door with his wand drawn defensively. Sirius stood to four legs and showed himself while Remus let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Come in, Padfoot," he said as he opened the door wide.

The Animagus trotted into the house and then switched back to his human form, eyeing everything curiously. "I haven't been here since that night..."

He couldn't finish the sentence, but they both knew it was the night that they'd fought so hard that the remaining fabric of their relationship was completely torn in two. It had been vicious with soul damaging words that could only come from someone whose love had been perverted into hate. It was not a proud moment for either one of them.

Remus stood awkwardly as if not sure how to talk to Sirius, and he wasn't. How did you talk to someone who was more distant to you than a complete stranger? No one had ever told him about the ache of strangers with once beloved and familiar faces. If they had never known each other, they could have started fresh, but to get to know each other again now would contain the weight of years of baggage. It was so strange.

That part was completely left out of all the clichés one was told after failed romances. It was too much of "You'll find someone new" or "You'll get over it" or worst of all, "Time heals all wounds." He hated those clichés. They never did him any good anyway.

After a long silence, they both tried talking at once, and then laughed nervously as they tripped over their words. Sirius told him to go ahead, and Lupin nodded in distracted acquiescence.

"Do you ever wonder if things would have gone differently if we'd made different decisions?" Remus asked. "Maybe James and Lily would still be alive. Maybe..."

"You can fill an ocean full of 'maybe.' It won't change anything. I'm not going to get my years in Azkaban back. We won't have James or Lily. We won't have all those missing years you and I should have been together. But we _can_ start new right now. If you want," he added as his eyes narrowed to study him.

At Lupin's obvious hesitation, Sirius acknowledged, "It's not going to be easy."

"It never was," Remus agreed.

"But it will be an adventure," Black proclaimed, adding his wide usually convincing smile. That fact was in itself usually the best selling point.

"What do you want from me?" Remus asked, reaching his hand out tentatively to Sirius without actually touching him. It had been such a tense year not knowing what he would do and not yet believing he had been innocent of all his crimes.

Before Black could answer that question, Lupin closed his eyes and said, "I'm so sorry, Sirius. I shouldn't have doubted you. I should have believed your innocence. You were my friend first before things between us went wrong, and I should have known better."

"Yes, you should have, but that is another one of those maybes we can't change," he replied, sounding tired to his soul.

"Then what do you want to do?" Remus asked him. He sat down at his little dining table and waited, his elbows propped and clasped hands in front of his face as if in some prayer pose.

Sirius took the seat opposite him at the table, feeling too large for such a delicate little chair. He shuffled to get comfortable with his body and mind before he spoke. "There are few things in this life I still want. I want Harry to be happy, and I do, too. I want to begin again, Remus. I want you to look into your heart and remember the part where you still loved me. I want that the most, I think."

Remus looked at Black's once young and handsome face. They had both aged nearly twice a lifetime away from the Sixth Year boys they were when they first fell in love with each other. There was so much time and distance between them and all the other words of separation that made the best clichés that he still hated. He thought that they were going to be bumbling and awkward, just like those boys all over again.

As if reading his mind, Sirius said, "It's just like riding a broom, Remus. You never really forget even if you're out of practice."

Lupin put his hand across the table to take Black's fingers in his own. "You were always the one of us who was so sure about everything. I always admired that, Sirius. I can't promise I'll always get it right. But… I do love you, and maybe we can remember how to do this together. Remind me and keep reminding me until there's no possibility I'll ever forget."

Sirius looked across the table at Remus who as a mature adult had the filled out manly features that belonged to the younger man he had loved. The grey peppered his hair more than it had once done, and his eyes held a haunted quality that wasn't the same as the one the young Lupin used to have. Yet he was still his Moony underneath it all.

Then he leaned forward across the table to give him an almost chaste kiss. The stubble on Lupin's face brushed his own bushy beard, and he laughed because it was such an odd surprise. His laughter faded as Remus kept kissing him until all sense was lost.

By the time the morning came for them, they were wrapped in each other's arms sleeping in Moony's small bed. Their love making had been all over the house and would perhaps later spill out into the yard. It was just as awkward as Lupin had anticipated it was going to be, but it was also filled with laughter and a love that had never really gone away, only forgotten itself for a while.

###

On Sunday evening after the visit from the Weasley couple, Jonathan found himself curled up in his study reading the book on werewolf mating rituals that Bill had found. He really hadn't given the rituals any thought because they were merely animals with human faces. It had never seemed important for him to truly understand the drives that the beasts had other than the obvious ones about maiming and killing. Love and mating for werewolves was a completely novel idea.

Robert found him in the room as he brought him his evening night cap. Jonathan waved it away so that his butler set it on the table beside him.

"Interesting," Moss said while the other man was still hovering.

"Sir?" he asked politely.

"A book," he said holding up the slim volume and then reaching to sip his drink. "What do you know of that werewolf we have in the basement, Robert?"

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, sir."

"Did you learn anything about him after I found out his name?" he asked while taking another drink. He nodded appreciatively at his butler's drink making skills.

"I thought you would have researched that. I'm sorry I didn't anticipate your desire, but it seems Frank had been researching on his own," he added with a polite cough. "From what he had told me, it seems the werewolf was Sirius Black's lover."

"Sirius Black? You have to be joking!"

"No, sir. Again, this is hearsay, but it appears they had a history before his imprisonment in Azkaban, and there were rumors of them reuniting after his escape."

Jonathan fully closed the book and thought about this new development. "I wonder if Black is still out there somewhere looking for him. Daft Muggle lovers and inept curse breakers might be one thing, but to have a murderer on the trail could be quite interesting."

Robert set down the drink tray and fingered the book curiously. "Does it work like wolves in the wild? You know they mate for life, so he is likely still with Black."

"I don't know about Black. The Ministry hasn't been forthcoming about all the details of his escape. There has been no news about his capture or his continued existence. He might still be out there, but he's not going to break his cover to come find his lover. At least, I wouldn't," Moss said as he tried to figure out his motives. "Or he could be dead, and that werewolf is alone."

"So how are you going to use this information?" Robert asked.

"I don't know yet, but I'll do something. If I can't figure anything amusing out soon, I think I may just kill him and the girl. I tire of their presence with me," he said as he stood up and stretched.

"The guests have worn out their welcome, sir?" he suggested.

Stifling a yawn, Jonathan agreed with him. "I can't believe he killed so many of the men. That's not entirely true. I can believe it, but I'm still surprised he did it. It just shows me good help is hard to find. You are an exception."

"Thank you, sir," he replied as he gathered the dishes to take to the kitchen while Moss excused him self to go to his warm bed to sleep.

###

The last few days leading up until Christmas and the end of the calendar year were busy for Jonathan at the bank. He avoided Bill who had the good graces to have thanked him for the invitation, even if Fleur forbade him to ever visit the man's house again. He was going to have to talk to his wife about her bossiness, but he agreed with her on this one point.

It was Tuesday morning before he was off to work that Jonathan walked into Ginny's cell, interrupting the fire practice that she had been doing. She snuffed the fire quickly enough that she hoped he had not seen the evidence of her magic. She wasn't sure how she was going to use it, but she was going to give Jonathan a surprise he wouldn't soon forget.

"Do you know what today is?" he asked her as he crouched in front of her, aiming his wand defensively.

_St. Patrick's Day_, was the first sarcastic thing that came to Ginny's mind. Instead, she said, "It's the day you're going to let me go home?"

He laughed, though the sound was insincere. "No. Christmas Eve is tomorrow. I think that on Christmas Day you and your werewolf friend will be invited to a feast."

"Are you going to feed us or cannibalize us?" she asked with all seriousness. With Moss, either could be a possibility.

He laughed again, and the sound grated on Ginny's ears. "I have no idea where you get your silly notions. It's Christmas! Of course you'll be eating, and the present I give you will be another day to stay alive and see your werewolf. You'll like that, won't you?"

The last he asked her with the curious head tilt of a bird figuring out a puzzle. It was like some things were falling into place in Jonathan's mind. He got up and walked to the door of her cell, looking at her curiously again before leaving.

###

When Christmas day came in all its sparkling glory, Ginny was nervous for a number of reasons, all of them having to do with whatever torturous version of civility Jonathan had planned for her and Remus. The werewolf had laughed in his own way at her retelling of the invitation because his mordant humor had been brought out while in the place.

§I'll get to see you, at least,§ she had told him.

§Remember your poker face. I think it would not be wise to give him much to see. It would be fuel for too many other games of his,§ he replied.

§But we're both stronger now! I am mastering my fire magic more and more every day, and you can change into a wolf at will. We have the tools of our own escape, Remus.§

She was right, and he acknowledged it. He just didn't want to get his hopes up in case they were dashed. Too many disappointments could wound one's will, and he was being cautious.

Robert came into her cell that morning with his wand aimed at her, and he quickly uttered a spell that she vaguely recognized. It was the sort that made her into the human version of a marionette. He then transported her out of the room and upstairs into a bath chamber.

"Because it is Christmas Day, you will be allowed to bathe. Mr. Moss does not wish to have his dinner guests, _you_, being anything less than clean. I will allow you thirty minutes to scrub and wash before I come back and help you into your proper dining attire," he explained.

Ginny looked at him askance. She hadn't had a proper bath since October, and the mere thought of it was enough to cause her to whimper. She tamped down on the urge and asked the butler if it was actually safe. "I have heard of Muggles killing other Muggles in bathing chambers. Who is to say that Jonathan hasn't heard this as well?"

To show her that all was on the up and up, Robert drew a bath complete with bubbles and stuck his forearm into the water. When he pulled his arm out, it still looked like a normal arm and not something in which the flesh had rotted away.

"You have thirty minutes," he reminded her before incanting a seal on the room.

She was at a loss because she most certainly did want that bath, but she didn't want to miss her opportunity to escape. After checking with Remus to determine he was being given the same treatment, she allowed herself to take the bath. Upon entering the water, sound sprang to her lips that could only be described as a combination of joy, relief and a little surprise. She could have stayed in the bubble bath until her skin wrinkled like raisins, but she went about washing her still long, though matted hair and scrubbing the dirt and blood and muck off her skin.

Once she was done, she was pink and glowing. She felt almost human until it was Jonathan who showed himself into the bath chamber with her.

"Where's Robert?" she asked with her voice spiking.

Jonathan and many of his men had already seen her nudity before, but that had been in a dank and dark dungeon. Somehow being as exposed to him in the bright and cheery bathroom brought back her sense of embarrassment.

"Who do you think is preparing our meal? I am certainly not going to do it. That is why I have him," he said as if it should have been obvious. "Now put on this robe. We're going to fix your hair."

She turned her head. "Am I still going to have hair when you're done?"

"This time," he said with an amused blink of his eyes.

He then started to brush her hair and put ornamental braids in it. At first she felt surprised about what he was doing, but then she told herself there was little about Jonathan that should surprise her. When he was done, she looked like a medieval lady from one of the tapestries she had seen in Hogwarts. She looked beautiful in a way she hadn't seen before, and she looked at her reflection skeptically as if this beauty was only a by-product of the non-scarification spell that Moss had done.

He added the finishing touches to the look by clothing her with a dark green crushed velvet off-the-shoulder dress and dangle earrings to emphasize her neck and creamy white skin. He also provided her with dainty golden slippers to match the accent stitching in her dress. He was very pleased with himself once Ginny's ensemble was complete, and she would have liked it, too, had it not come from him.

He reinforced the marionette spell and directed her into the dining room where he placed her in a seat at the opulently set table. As soon as she was seated, wrist and ankle restraints came out of the chair to hold her down. She tested them lightly while he was hovering over her.

"How will I eat?" she asked him, trying to play the role of the reasonable guest.

"You'll have to see. But now to get your werewolf. He's going to need a shave," he added while looking at his wand tip.

§Guard your throat, Remus,§ Ginny warned. She could only wonder if Jonathan might tire of the shaving and civility and try to sever his head. The thought would have turned her stomach, but she was too busy being on alert.

###

Remus had taken Ginny's warning when Jonathan came in to groom him. It was a strange experience because he had never been to a barber. If it had been Sirius doing it, there would have been more sensuality and play. He wondered if Moss was doing the grooming as a reminder of the not-so-subtle dog metaphor that he had been using in reference to him for most of his captivity.

Whether or not that was so, Jonathan wished to keep up appearances, including dressing Remus in some very fine robes that he would never have personally chosen. Though he had never had the money to dress well, that did not mean he was without opinions about what did or did not look good on him. This clothing made him feel foppish and too much like Gilderoy Lockhart.

Jonathan escorted Remus into his formal dining room where the werewolf kept his eyes averted from Ginny. He didn't dare look at her because he was sure Moss was up to some kind of trick. He could pretend some form of indifference if he was lucky.

Once he was in place at his chair the restraints on his hands and feet clamped down and lengthened into chains so he could reach his food on his plate. He glanced to the edge of his setting and saw Ginny's hands across from his and guessed that she was in the same type of binding.

At the head of the table, Jonathan made jolly conversation with himself and tried to act as the brilliant master of ceremonies, but Remus was having none of it. He ate slowly and darted his eyes around the room to gather as much information as possible. His mind was turning with ideas that perhaps he and Ginny could use their combined magics to break free. It would be the greatest of all Christmas miracles if they could use the fireplace as part of the Floo network.

None of that mattered to Jonathan who tired of their quiet reserve. "Well, if this isn't the most awkward of dinner parties. We can't have a great time if we don't have cooperative guests. We have a lady in our presence. Why don't you tell her how good she looks in that dress?"

Lupin turned his head to Moss with a disbelieving expression. He answered with his own steely expression. "Tell her how beautiful she looks."

"You look beautiful, Ginny," Remus said flatly while staring daggers at Jonathan.

"I said tell _her_," he hissed at Lupin again.

He glowered at Jonathan, and slowly swung his eyes to finally allow himself to look at her. He noticed the tips of her ears blushing while she was under his scrutiny. He could see that she was the most beautiful redhead that he had ever seen, even more beautiful than the incomparable Lily Evans. He would never give her his sincere truth in front of Moss's watchful gaze.

"Green suits you," he said as he tried to fix his gaze on her with no meaning at all.

She turned her brown eyes to him and nodded her thanks.

"That's much better. We have a much more friendly atmosphere now. And do you have something you should tell him?" Jonathan prompted.

"That he looks beautiful?" Ginny asked. She did an obvious eye roll at Jonathan to signify that he could not bully her around, and she said to Lupin, "You look well clean-shaven."

"Thank you," he said as he slowly ate the food that had been placed before them.

In his mind he sent her a quiet message. §I think the food is drugged. I can't seem to make even the smallest wolf shift. Does your fire magic work right now?§

§Not yet,§ she confirmed. §I've been trying to do small sparks under the table, and I have very little in me.§

§Clever,§ Remus assessed. To Jonathan he gave another death stare.

"Don't you like the meal? Robert worked so hard to make it enjoyable for you two. After all, you are a long way from home with no other family around."

"The meal is tasty. Thank you, Robert," Moony said without taking his eyes off Moss.

After they finished the main course, the host threw down his napkin petulantly. "Well, this was not the success I would have hoped. I think we have to liven up this party. I know! Let's dance. More accurately, you two can dance."

Ginny looked unsurely at Jonathan and shot a look to Remus who was looking equally uneasy about the prospect of dancing with her. The other man was busy moving furniture out of the way with his wand, and instructing Robert to bring the wireless out to play music. Once that was set up, he waved his wand at the pair, and the marionette charm took over.

Under different circumstances, Ginny would have been overjoyed for another opportunity to touch Remus, but this pretense tired her. He made them dance to everything for too long of a time to count. She could have picked up the dances easily, but without the true use of her own body, she was just a prisoner to a body that moved convulsively and without an iota of the natural grace she possessed.

"They do well. Don't they, Robert?" Jonathan said from his seat as he released the dancing spell. His leg was resting jauntily over the arm of the chair, and he had a glass of wine in his hand.

Ginny slumped against Remus who caught her and held her close in those few seconds their bodies were released between spells. He made the mistake of looking down at her as he cradled her head to his chest. Jonathan's eyes widened, and he sat up as he caught it. He shot a glance at Robert to see if he had also seen it.

Speaking too loudly, Moss said, "I think it's time to have dessert. Come sit back down. You must be exhausted after such strenuous dancing."

The two sat as they were ordered, and the restraints in the chair came back to hold them down. At that point, Jonathan got up from the table and walked out of the room with Robert following him.

Ginny was still so tired that she couldn't shake it, and she was sure that it was a combination of the dance and whatever had been put into the food. She glanced tiredly up to Lupin, and his silver eyes softened as he looked at her.

§I _do_ know how to dance, Gin, but not like that. I might show you some time,§ he thought to her.

§That might be nice. When we get out. We'll go dancing down the streets of The Hague and have the tastiest chocolate after we see the Escher museum, right?§ she asked, thinking of the promises from their shared game.

He sighed and looked at her again because he knew how weary she was. It was an attempt at holding herself together, but she was quickly falling apart.

§We will do all those things together when we leave. We'll travel the world together if you want it to be so. All you have to do is speak the word,§ he replied.

###

In the other room where Robert was gathering the dessert that Moss had promised, Jonathan was feeling supremely proud of himself. Neither one of his guests knew he could see them, and he was smirking at Remus, whose face revealed much more than the werewolf intended.

"What is it, sir?" he asked after hearing the other man's noises of triumph.

"Look at him. I thought it was a mistake, but no. It's clear as anything. Look at how his face softens when he looks at her. Even the way he moves his hands around her is different." Jonathan paused as the light of revelation struck him. "He loves her!"

Robert stilled his preparations and looked through the secret viewing mirror Jonathan was using. "Well, that's certainly not very teacher-like, is it?"

"No, it isn't," he answered feeling proud of himself once more. "So what was that about him being paired with Sirius Black?"

"I just know what I was told by Frank. It's possible they're not together any more, or he might have a school girl fetish," Robert postulated. "He had a year and ample opportunity to get to know his students better."

"No, that's… that's not what's written on his face. He genuinely _loves_ her," Jonathan said, still sounding shocked to have observed such a major piece of information. "That makes the dance make more sense, too, since the spell wasn't working the entire time. I stopped it every so often just to see if they'd behave differently. Interesting."

"Yes, sir," Robert placated. "Dessert now?"

"Yes, of course." With a satisfied sigh he added, "I think I just got my Christmas present. The poor sod doesn't know he's just given me the tool to destroy them."

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric quote for this chapter comes from "Elastic Heart" performed by Neil Finn on the album _One Nil_.

Next chapter has the big showdown, so stay tuned!


	26. Infernal Dance of the Firebird

**CHAPTER 26:  
Infernal Dance of the Firebird**

_Turn and run, you cold killers of innocence.  
Against us there's no defense  
_~Neil Finn

In the quiet time between old and new when all worlds seemed to hold their breaths, Remus and Ginny were doing the same. It was clear that Jonathan was up to something again, but they couldn't tell exactly what it was. He would sweep in and out of their cells to verbally taunt them and gauge their reactions, all the while a small book was clutched in his hands. Neither one of his prisoners thought it was a book of prayers, though Ginny wondered at his zealot-like change in demeanor.

Up until Christmas he had seemed most determined to keep them apart, but after forcing them to dance on Christmas Day, his torture tactic changed to making sure they were together when being tortured. He wanted to witness them taking in the other's pain, and he would force their eyes open to watch. The degradation he had chosen for them included standard beatings and torture, but they were of the loud and painful variety. He had painstakingly broken fingers and toes and had been content to hurt them in other ways as long as both members of the pair were there to witness it.

So it was with some surprise that Remus found Jonathan alone with him in his cell, still holding the small book to his chest and looking at him in the same curious way that Muggle scientists use when studying animals in the wild.

"Do you know that wolves in the wild mate for life? They are one of nature's most monogamous creatures. With some wolves, if the mate dies, the other wolf soon will, too. Humans are not that way very often. Some stay true, but often they do not," Jonathan began, clearly there to tell Remus a long story. "Where do you fit on that spectrum? Are you more of a wolf or more of a man?"

Lupin shook his head as if he was not willing to answer. "Those Americans have a saying that anything I say can and will be used against me. Surely you don't think me so foolish as to tell you."

"Ah, but that's the rub. You have told me so much already, and I doubt you knew it was happening. I know you came for the girl even when her family and others around her thought her impossible to find. You found her in my forest on the full moon, and you bit her," he reminded.

Moony tried to look casual about it. "That's what werewolves do. We bite."

"Mmmm, yes. You do. Do you know what else you do? There are times a werewolf will find someone on the night of the full moon to make it his mate," he said as he opened his little book to find the relevant passage. "'_The bite given will leave a mark._' Of course they do. All bites leave marks, except when the intended victim has been cursed with a non-scarification spell."

Jonathan looked at him again to see if he was following what was being said. He saw that Remus was not budging from being non-committal. So he sighed and waved his wand until the still image of a night forest appeared on the wall of his cell.

"You may not realize what you look like in your werewolf body, but I assure you this was you the night we captured you," he said before setting it into motion.

Remus tried not to watch as this recording or memory, whatever it was Jonathan used, played out like a movie on his wall. He saw Ginny running through the forest, afraid for her life and afraid for him. He also saw his werewolf self stalking her. He had seen the beautiful flaming thing, and he knew to his very soul that he had to make her his own. How could he not when on some level she was directly calling to him? Then he saw how he had felled her and bitten her while holding her down with his werewolf body. Though he had bitten her, the very posture of his body was animalistic and possessive without being of the murderous variety.

Jonathan smiled as he observed Lupin's face watching the recording of that night. He was proud of himself for remembering to dig it out. He'd nearly forgotten to do it, but it came in handy right now.

"You chose her," Moss said with quiet certainty. "You're not just a friend of the family trying to help. You might have told yourself that lie at one point, and maybe you believed it. People are wonderfully adept at self-deception. But you have chosen her. If it wasn't then, it's been since you've been here with me."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Remus said evenly, trying not to take on a defensive tone.

"Actually, I do," Jonathan said again, and showed on the wall a photo of him looking at Ginny at Christmas. "Right here your face is an open book for the world to read."

Lupin could not deny it at all, and he berated himself for letting his guard down. He had told Ginny to keep up a poker face, but it was his fault they were found out. As he realized his terrible mistake, he flicked his gaze to Jonathan who was leaving his cell.

"What are you going to do?" he demanded.

The dark haired man smiled as he looked out the cell door. "I'm going to find out if she feels the same about you, and then I'm going to crush you both. I told her she would break, and I will not have a mere slip of a girl beat me."

"She's not as weak as you think," Remus warned.

###

When Moss swished into her cell later, Remus had already warned her about what had happened with him. Ginny had reacted with a silence that he had not expected. She finally told him she'd handle it, and then she severed the mental link for a while.

"Tell me about your book, Jonathan," she ordered without preamble. "You're carrying it around the way some carry around a diary. I know a thing or two about magical diaries. You can't trust them."

He chose to ignore the steel edge of her tone. "This is the book your good brother Bill found in my library when he was visiting me. Do you even know what it's about?"

"No, but I suspect you'll tell me anyway," she said acerbically. "So save us both time, and just get to it."

"This book," he said as he held it up for reference, "isn't a diary, but it is a book all about werewolf mating rituals. Who knew that werewolves even _had_ mating rituals? It's been wonderfully delicious reading.

"And who do I have as guests but a male werewolf and a beautiful young woman? I may have to get the wand out and make him do a little naked mating dance with you, have him press his naked flesh against yours and see what happens. That is, unless you were to go to him willingly."

She gave him the disinterested look that generations of teenagers had perfected. "You're trying to threaten me with sex? Really? Your man Stewart raped me repeatedly, and you think you can threaten me as if it's a new thing? Are you really that stupid?"

Ginny looked unflappable and contemptuous.

"I think while you're my guest you'll do what I want you to do," he sneered at her.

"You can't scare me any more, Jonathan. Just realize how pitiful you are. Let us go," she said, slowly enunciating each word. When he gave her a dubious expression to the contrary, she said, "You'll learn the error of your ways. For the record, I'm not scared of werewolves. They are scared of _me_. You should learn to feel the same."

"That's mighty big talk from a girl who got easily taken from Hogsmeade without much of a fight. You'll have to excuse me if I don't find it within me to be afraid of you, you little know-nothing girl!" he said.

"Well, you don't have to get emotional about it," she said in a low tone. She then winked at him when he narrowed his gaze at her.

Jonathan looked at her furiously as if he was about to boil over in a rage. Because of it, Ginny was even calmer and had an expression of amused disdain. It was enough to make him come unhinged.

He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to the ground, kicking her in the stomach as he did so. He then kicked her again for good measure to make sure she would have boot marks on her intestines for a long time to come. Not one to be done, he walked out of the cell dragging her by her hair behind him.

When he got to the door of Lupin's cell, he pulled her up by her neck, practically choking her in the process. Then he quickly opened the door and threw her down on the bricks near Moony's feet.

"You can have her!" he shouted, the only time either one of them had ever seen him shout or act anything other than his merrily delighted self. Jonathan reinforced the wards on the cell so the pair couldn't escape, and he stormed out of it vividly cursing them both.

###

After Remus was sure Moss had completely gone, he scrambled across the floor to pull Ginny into his arms. She didn't speak and didn't think. He could feel her physical and emotional pain, and he tried to soothe her the best way that he could. She cried into the crook of his neck as he rubbed his hands all over her back and planted little kisses of comfort along her temple.

Once she had stilled enough to stop her tears, she became fascinated with the sounds of his breathing and his heartbeat. She reminded herself that he was real, perhaps the most real of anything or anyone that had ever been. She pulled herself up and pressed her mouth against his in a whisper of the kiss she'd wanted to give him since the full moon.

He sucked in a breath of air at the surprise of the physical sensation. His eyes widened, and while a barrage of thoughts went through his head on why it would be a very bad idea to kiss her right then, he went with his instincts first. He placed his hand gently on her face, his fingers wrapped in her vivid hair, and he returned his mouth to hers. He kissed her repeatedly with every caress of his lips tattooing into her skin how treasured she was to him.

When they were done, he sat there for some long amount of time holding her in his arms in the quiet dark. Then Ginny sent out a spark from a casual wave of her hand. The spell surrounding the room lit up in a seamless blue shine, and she sadly sighed into his chest.

"We're never going to get out of here," she declared mournfully.

He couldn't see the way out, either, so this time he didn't try to tell her the convenient lie.

###

**December 31st**

Using his remote viewing spell, Jonathan had watched the pair together in the same cell, and with every hour that passed his anger grew. He was not sure any more how long they had been in there with each other. A day? Two? The only thing that Moss could see was that neither had been broken no matter what he tried. That left only one recourse to end this situation.

He sat at his desk contemplating everything and nothing while he stabbed his golden dagger into the wood. It was the same dagger that had been used to cut her when he drew the werewolf out of hiding. That had been such a mistake. Everything about these guests had gone sour, and Jonathan could spit for all the bile that filled his craw.

When Robert came in with his evening night cap on a tray a while later, he flicked his eyes up impatiently at him. "That is not my evening tea. Need I have to remind you, too, that I get what I want?"

"No, sir. It's New Years Eve. I thought you'd want something appropriate. End the old year and start the new year, sir," Robert said as he set the drink down on his desk.

"It's New Years Eve? How did I miss that?" he asked absently as he looked again at his viewing spell. He tapped the dagger again on the desk, flipping it from hilt to tip.

"Do we have many men on the grounds? Or have they gone home to spend it with their wretched families and friends?" Moss asked his butler.

"We have a few, sir, and I can call more back if you like," he answered with some concern. "What is it that you want?"

"Bring Theo and Nathaniel with their respective crews of men. It's time to have extermination. These guests are about to leave permanently."

"Yes, sir," Robert replied with his normal efficiency.

###

About an hour later when all the men had gathered back at Moss Manor, two wizards in protective gear stormed into the cell where Ginny and Remus were. They sent a swift stunning curse at her and took Lupin out of the cell. Once they were gone, Jonathan stepped inside the door, looking at her with a smirk. He waved his hand, and two more wizards filed in to take her.

She frantically called out to Remus in her mind to discover what they were doing to him, but he did not answer. Given the look on Moss's face, she knew whatever they were doing to him couldn't be good. He seemed to her as if he had finally come unhinged and stayed there permanently. The man followed close behind her while his foot soldiers took her to the main room with all the torture implements, including the water tank that had occasionally been used to play the very Puritan game of drown the witch. Jonathan had found the old Muggle superstition entertaining.

He stood before her, twirling the dagger in his fingers, and then he stepped forward to cut the Christmas dress off of her. She stood still because she was under the influence of the spell. Once she was naked, he started slashing at her body to draw blood and maim her skin before the healing power of the non-scarification charm would set in. He grimaced as if that were not enough.

"You have resisted me. How is it possible? I tortured you and beat you. You were raped and given the temptation of seeing your family, but still you did not bend. You think that you can't be broken, but I know better!" His voice started to rise, but he tried to put a cap on it and spoke in deadly quiet.

"Then I realized, I had to take away from you the _one_ thing that you love the most," he said with a devilish smile. Leaning in for a whisper, he said, "I'm going to kill your werewolf in front of you, and then when he's dead and you have seen and felt all his pain? Then I will kill you, too, so you can join him in death."

Ginny's mouth went dry. She tried to reach out to him, but he still wasn't answering her mind's call. "Where is he?" she demanded frantically.

"Just roughing him up a little bit like a rare steak," Moss said as he moved his dagger along both sides of her jaw. "You should tell him goodbye when you see him. Neither one of you will live to see the New Year."

Her eyes widened in the fear she felt, and then from her left several of the men came in dragging Lupin's body. It appeared that his legs were broken, some ribs were cracked, and his face was bloody and raw.

"Remus!" she cried out, trying to move to him, but she was not strong enough to break Jonathan's spell.

He lifted his head and fixed his gaze on hers, his eyes shining in the silver way she recognized from his times of being in extreme pain or in his werewolf form. He stared at her, his eyes mournful and apologetic and his mental voice silent in her head for the first time in nearly two months.

The men stood Remus up as Jonathan casually walked over to him and took the dagger, plunging it in Lupin's belly and hooking up to damage any internal organs in its path. He shoved the blade in deeper and laughed with joy as a stream of blood started to dribble out of his mouth. Moss kept the blade buried within him until the light went out of the werewolf's silver eyes. Then he withdrew the dagger and had the men drop the dead body to the floor as if it were disgusting and discarded filth.

Ginny watched him fall as if in slow motion, crumpling as a marionette whose strings had been cut. The sound of blood rushing in her ears blocked out everything else that could have come to her consciousness. She didn't hear Jonathan's taunts or see the way his face smirked in victory over taking away that which she held most beloved. She didn't hear the scream that erupted from her own throat as she cried out with the combined fury of a banshee and all the demons of hell and retribution.

With the power of her own will, she was loosed from Jonathan's binding spell. Ginny let out another primal scream as she fell to the floor and slapped her hand down in front of her. From her outstretched fingertips, a rolling wave of fire rose out of the floor and rolled toward Lupin's fallen body, encasing him in a golden bubble of fire reminiscent of the ancient Hebrew stories of their One God.

The men who had surrounded Remus were knocked back from him by the power of her rolling fire, but they did not escape. She twined the fire around them as if were a rope, and she pulled toward herself making them fall to the ground in front of her like dominoes.

"Don't just stand there! Hex her!" Jonathan shouted to his foot soldiers over the unexpected noisy flames.

One unnamed soldier stood to aim a hex at her, and she walked toward him as she aimed a bludger size fire-ball at his face. Two other men tried to shoot her back, but Ginny turned around, and with a wave of her hand instantly incinerated their wands into ash. Then she backed up toward the water tank that had been waiting and filled. She dipped her fingers in there as she studied the men in the room in front of her. She waited with the ferocity of a caged animal for one of them to make another move for her.

The fire witch was soon rewarded with one of the younger, more foolish men who charged forward at her. She kicked him in the groin and grabbed his hair. Then she put his face into the water that she'd been subtly heating and brought it to a flash boil while he struggled against her.

A few men started to run away out of one of the entrances to the room. She waved her hand above her, and fire surrounded the entire frame. She concentrated on burning a beam away from the foundation so it would fall and block their escape.

She turned her angry stare to Jonathan who was there as if frozen in the inferno that she had created. His eyes widened, and he dropped the dagger he had been holding as he tried to make a break for the opposite exit.

"There's no place you can hide from me, Jonathan," Ginny called out in the same sing-song voice that he used while torturing them with his songs.

She concentrated again, and sent up flames to burn the outside of the house. It took all her will to make it travel and coat the entire building. Her body trembled under the passage of power, and she could barely contain it. When her eyes were closed a few of the men tried aiming hexes at her, but they seemed to bounce off of her as if the fire itself had created a shield around her body.

If Moss was going to try to Floo out of the quickly burning house, she wasn't going to give him a fireplace to use. Ginny knew of the one in the study where all the flammable books lived, and she reached her senses out to try to find any of the remains of embers once burned. As she prepared this, the fire around her lessened, and one of Jonathan's soldiers rushed up to her to try to take her out.

Weasley blinked as her thoughts returned to her body and she saw the wizard in front of her. Instead of being afraid, she reached her hand out to grab him by the face. He didn't expect her to touch him directly, but from her hands came the fire that she spread into his body via his mouth and nose to burn all his delicate tissue.

When he had suffocated from internal immolation, Ginny threw him away from her. She eyed the few men who still remained with her in the room and who hadn't succumbed to the smoke and fire. One of them tried to move, but she aimed another fireball at him to take him down. She was getting faster, and she tried to sense where the wands were. If she could take out the wands, then these poor wizards without the gift of Elemental fire had absolutely nothing to use against her.

The Elemental witch walked forward from her spot, fire striking the floor in her wake, and she bent down to retrieve Jonathan's fallen dagger, the one he had been so proud of using while she was with him. She blinked and willed flames to surround it, and the dagger did not melt from the heat. She nodded in satisfaction, and walked to Robert who was under some fallen debris near the door and coughing his last breaths.

"You should have let me go!" she said to him.

"It was Jonathan," he begged, attempting to get her mercy.

"No. You, Robert, are just as guilty. And now, you are going to die, just like your master will very soon," she said before plunging the flaming dagger into his throat.

She pulled out the blade and waited there the few seconds until he stopped twitching. Then Ginny stood up and surveyed the room. With a sweep of her arm, she sent out a wave of fire to destroy everything contained in it, except the bubble of fire that still surrounded the body of Remus.

###

Upstairs in the manor, Jonathan was running from room to room like a scared rabbit being pursued by a voracious predator. The doors and fireplaces were all burning out of control so he could not leave by either means. When he had run away from his play room, the girl had turned his wand to ash. The smoke in the manor was getting so thick that he could not be sure where to go, and he couldn't think clearly enough to even try Apparating away from the destruction.

He fell to the hot floor of in the hallway outside the library. He remembered that he had large windows in there. If he could break the windows with his desk chair, he could escape by jumping out the window. He had to try. He was desperate to try.

But someone else was just as invested in him not being successful in his attempt to flee. She sang songs after him that sounded like ones of chase and taunting that he would have very much done had the roles been reversed.

"Fee-fi-fo-fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!" Ginny said with crazed laughter. "Come out; come out wherever you are, Jonathan! You can run but you can't hide!"

As she walked closer to him, all the dark smoke began to turn into an orange halo heralding her arrival. Taunting again, she said as she stomped closer, "Ashes! Ashes! You all fall DOWN!"

He backed away from her like a crab avoiding the inevitable waves of the ocean as she came ever closer to him. When she appeared above him, an avenging angel in the fires of hell, he cried out, "Oh, beautiful flaming Azrael!"

She dropped down low and crawled over to him like a panther in search of its prey. Punctuating her words with slow precision as she positioned her body above his, she said, "I _am_ the angel of death because now _you_ get to die."

The young Weasley put her hands on the side of his face and kissed his mouth. She breathed in hot fire to scorch his lungs, and she surrounded his body with flames until he was simultaneously burned from inside and out.

Once she was done, she stood up and threw the dead husk of his carcass aside. She walked slowly out of the room, not flinching as the structural beams started to fall around her. As Ginny passed a linen closet with the door hanging off the hinges, she reached inside and pulled out a large woolen blanket. She put it over her arm as she made her way back into the epicenter of destruction in the dungeon.

###

Ginny placed the blanket on the floor beside the flaming sphere that encased Lupin's body. She reached inside to gently pull him out of it and roll him on to the blanket. She rolled him a few times until she was sure he was secure inside it. Then she used the dagger as an unorthodox pin to keep one end of the blanket closed.

Because she had blocked the exits for Jonathan's men, that meant they were blocked for her as well. She surveyed the burning room and waved her hand as if to dismiss a wall because it annoyed her. The wall crumbled to ash, and she stepped through it while dragging the body in the blanket behind her. She kept her dead eyes forward until she was completely out of the building and on the grounds.

She didn't stop to think that this was the first time she was breathing the fresh air of freedom since she'd been taken on Halloween. She didn't think of much of anything as she stared at the mansion burning in the night sky. Ginny knew only one thought, and that was her own pain.

She looked at the house again, and then in an angry screaming rage the Elemental witch sent fire to burn the building so hot and fast that it nearly disintegrated in front of her eyes. But it did not make up for the ache in her soul as she pulled the wrapped bundle behind her through the snow away from the fire that burned in the night like a beacon.

She walked until she fell and couldn't get up. Then she stood up like a newborn colt with shaky legs and continued on again until the glow of her departure was only as bright as that of a large metropolitan city. When she fell to her knees one time more and could only stare out into the blackness ahead, she finally stopped walking.

She removed the dagger from the end of the blanket and stuck it deep into the dirt through the snow. She opened the blanket to stare down at Lupin's face that here looked so still from the animated man she knew he could be. She tried to reach his mind, but there was nothing there, only the cold memory of what used to be.

She let out a keening wail like a wounded beast. Then Ginny put her body on top of his and pounded his chest as if to jump start his heart working. She cried and cried, and wrapped his limp arms around her while she shed her tears all over him and begged him to return to her. She cried and begged until her life had no sense of time at all. There was only one thing she knew was true.

Ginny Weasley was alone.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter is from "Turn and Run" performed by Neil Finn on the album _One Nil_ (released as _One All_ in North America).


	27. Under the River of Stars

**CHAPTER 27:  
Under the River of Stars**

_There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost  
But you'll never see the end of the road  
While you're traveling with me  
_~Neil Finn

Remus woke to find himself in a room that was the picture of opulence and dignity. It looked like someone's library or private study. The ceilings were high and vaulted, and it was furnished with golden lamps and large chairs. Books lined the walls with interspersed statues and paintings. In the center of the room was a large oak desk with a rich tan stain. Underneath his feet was one of the most beautiful Arabian rugs he had ever seen with the colors of red and gold woven into the ornate design. There were no windows in the room, though, and Remus had the impression that he was in a cave-like cathedral.

He then looked at himself. Gone were the shackles and scraps of rags. He was dressed both warmly and well. It was a far cry from the tatty clothing he had always worn and nothing like the ugly foppish clothing that Jonathan had made him wear at Christmas. While everything seemed fantastical, he had a sense of knowing it wasn't.

He walked around the room trying to discern his surroundings. "This _is_ real, isn't it? It's not a dream?" he asked out loud in wonder.

A strong yet quiet voice answered him from the shadows near the fireplace. "No, you aren't dreaming this time. This, whatever _this_ is," a hand in the darkness gestured to everything about him, "is very real."

Sirius walked into the light looking more radiant than any other time that Remus could remember. His face was handsome in the way it should have been had he not spent most of his adult life in Azkaban. He no longer had the haunted shadows of a broken spirit. He looked complete.

"Padfoot!" was Lupin's stunned reply.

Black smirked. "So some would say."

"No, this is a dream," Remus denied, stepping back from him skeptically. "You're always in my dreams lately, but you're never real."

"I _am_ real. Even in your dreams I am real. How could you not know that by now?" He stepped closer to Remus as he spoke, but he still kept a cautious and studied distance.

"Oh," Lupin replied with a lack of eloquence. "So that was you all those times telling me to help Ginny?"

"Yes, and you finally listened. You might prove to have a good head on your shoulders yet, Moony," he said, teasing them in the familiar way they had when they were boys.

"Where am I?" he asked as he looked around the room again.

"Can't tell you that, old friend. You won't be here long anyway. Not if I and that phoenix of a girl have anything to say about it."

Though the comment puzzled him, Lupin chose to overlook it. Instead, he said, "I don't want to be where you're not, Sirius. I _miss_ you."

"I had my life, Remus. It wasn't always good, but it was mine. And now it is over, but you? You have so much left yet to be done and so much joy yet to be felt. But there is also the fact that you _can't_ stay here. You have to go back because she loves you."

Remus wasn't fully listening and made a face of pleading.

Sirius stilled him. "You know what I have said is true. She already loves you now, but you _will_ have to wait for her. In about two or three years when Harry comes to me, then..."

Remus heard the part about Harry and blanched. "How do you know all these things?"

He smiled self-deprecatingly and spread his arms to show himself in his surroundings. "Consider it wisdom gained at a high price. His time on that plane is very short, but you will have a future full of richness and wonder as you would never have imagined. It will be a _good_ life, Remus. The best."

Sirius looked at him with soft eyes warmed by love while Remus protested. "How can I have a future with her when my heart still dwells in the past with you?"

"Petulance never did look good on you, I'm afraid," Black teased. "I promise you that you will have a wonderful future, beloved. You will be happy. You will have sons and daughters, and you will be surrounded by the love and acceptance you always wanted. I have met your children, Moony. They are beautiful souls just waiting to be born."

Sirius spoke about Lupin's unborn children with an indulgent and proud tone that he might have used as Harry's godfather. Then he said pointedly, "But you can not have any of that if you choose to stay here. You _must_ leave."

"I don't want to go! I want stay with you," he said, sounding to his own ears like a rebellious child.

"You will always have me, Remus. Don't you know that? Love doesn't die just because _we_ do." Sirius walked closer to Remus as the sound of the howling wind outside grew louder.

"What is that?" Lupin asked fearfully as he heard the gale.

"It's the sound of your exit coming soon now. She's quite powerful, that witch of yours," he said, appreciating the magic happening beyond them. "Perhaps she is the only one who could have truly tamed your werewolf heart."

During Black's short reverie, the storm surrounded them but only affected Lupin. The banshee wail increased as did the water lashing against him incongruously in the sealed room.

"_Why_ is it raining on me?" Remus protested like a wet rooster as the drops kept falling on his head. He noticed that Padfoot wasn't getting wet at all but instead was smiling with satisfaction.

"A-ha! Here it is, and just in time I might add!" Sirius looked up to the ceiling of the room with a laughing expression on his face.

Remus scowled at him and tried wiping the water away while Black continued to explain. "She loves you enough to bring you back, and I love you enough to make you go."

"I'm _not_ going anywhere until I get some real answers," he said angrily.

"That I can not give you. There's nothing I am allowed to tell you and nothing really tangible that you could carry with you when you go." Sirius walked closer to the very wet man. He put his hands on Lupin's shoulders and said softly, "Just know this. I love you, Remus. Wake up!"

With an efficient movement, he shoved the werewolf away from him with all the force he could muster. Because Moony was not expecting it, he stumbled backwards. His body fell to the floor and shattered as if it had been a glass breaking into infinite unnumbered pieces.

###

Xenophilius Lovegood surveyed the modest offices of the _Quibbler_. It was his publication, and he was proud of it. He'd been to a New Year's Eve party but had to stop here before going home to his daughter. Luna took the holiday from Hogwarts to spend time with him, unlike what she had done in years past. It seemed that most of the families he'd met at the party were subdued this year even though they had much to celebrate since many of the captured children had been set free.

"Mr. Lovegood! I'm so glad you're here. I was just about to send you an urgent owl," panted one of his young reporters, whose name was Arjuna after the legendary hero.

"I'm on my way home to Luna. How important is this?" he asked.

"Very!" he replied with a wide smile that could have outdone the Cheshire cat. "I have one word for you, sir. Heliopaths."

Lovegood looked at his reporter and he started to tap his lips with his index finger in the way he usually did when he was pondering an idea. "Go on," he urged.

"I just got an owl myself about a major fire that started in County Durham. The damage is too great, and with New Years Eve, it's the perfect time for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to strike. I wanted to go investigate it."

"Excellent," he replied. "If the You-Know-Who is using his Heliopaths again, we need to know about it so we can tell the people. You might have the lead article if you do this right."

"Yes, sir!" Arjuna agreed enthusiastically. "I'll get my things ready and Apparate out to the site."

"Be careful," Lovegood advised. "If they are still in the area, you don't want to get in their way."

"I will be the very model of stealth and discretion."

Xeno put on his traveling cloak and wished the young man Godspeed. Then he Apparated home to his daughter Luna.

###

Ginny heard the drums, pounding and steady. It was the sound of the timpani on horseback with the cavalry in hot pursuit of her. She raised her head from where she had been resting it, and there were banners in the distance. And still the sound of drums came steady and loud.

Then she heard the sound of heavy breathing as if men approached her and wished to capture her. She jumped up, nimble as a fox and fled in the opposite direction. The sound of drums did not cease but sounded in her head where she could not get away from it, and the breaths of her would-be captors felt like they were on her neck.

She ran and ran some more, trying to evade their pursuit, yet the best she could do was not good enough. She stopped and tried to look around her to see if the army still followed her. If she were a bird to fly, she would have taken to the skies. Instead, she used her fire magic and sent a sheet of fire behind her to ward against any attack. Then she ran again into a forest until she cleared the other side of it, sure she had evaded them at least for a moment.

She stopped by a running stream she could not cross and bent over, putting her hands on her knees as she closed her eyes to take a deep breath. All Ginny could do was gulp the air in as if it were a rare commodity.

Then she heard a twig snap forward and to her right. She looked up to see a finely dressed dark haired man coming out of the tree line. Her first terrified thought was that it was Jonathan come to exact revenge upon her.

"_Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?_" he said with a soft and oddly familiar voice.

Ginny tried to look at him, to bring his face into focus, but he appeared a blur until it seemed the world shifted and snapped into view.

"Sirius? Are you real?" she asked with breathless desperation.

"I have been asked that many times, and sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is no. Right now neither answer is important," he said.

"I'm dreaming," she said as she looked around her environment anew.

"Some would say," he agreed. "There are times in dreams when the barriers between the worlds becomes thin enough to cross over."

He walked close enough that she could see strands of his hair floating in the breeze. "You have done well, Ginny. Remember in all things that fire contains the dichotomy of destruction and rebirth. If this forest were to burn completely, in the spring there would be new growth bursting to life."

He waved his hand and the distant view of the smoldering Moss Manor appeared before them. "Here, you have destroyed with great prejudice. I heartily approve, by the way.

"And here," he said as the image of Remus still on the winter ground with her collapsed above him appeared. Her red hair stood in stark contrast to the white snow. "Here, the spark of life, a spark of fire perhaps, waits to return to the blaze it could be."

"But he's dead," she said in quiet despair as she sank to her knees and looked at the image of their bodies together.

"Not as dead as you might think," he said in a whisper at her ear. "Who knows fire as well as you do, Miss Weasley? A spark, if it's the _right_ spark needs little to turn it into a flame. Does he have a spark within him, Ginny?"

She looked at him with her face a mask of worry and doubt. "I don't know."

He smirked at her indulgently. "You know better than that. You aren't remembering what you did to him. What did you tell him? Remember, Ginny. It's very important."

"I told him many things, Sirius..." she said as her voice trailed off. She thought through all their conversations picking through the words she could remember with a fine toothed comb. And then it came to her with the heavy weight of responsibility.

"I am the sunlight in your veins," she said. He looked pleased at her answer, though he continued to gaze only at the fallen Remus in the distance.

"Brilliant, really," he said of her magic. Then he added, "Take care of him, Ginny."

Sirius stood up and touched the side of her head. Then she returned to her body, the steady beat of a drum still sounding in her ear.

###

Remus gasped as if he were a fish drowning in the air unable to pull the oxygen out of it. He spasmed and coughed, and he could not shake off the weight on his chest that was holding him down. As he gulped in more air to his damaged and greedy lungs, he realized he wasn't suffocating. He was breathing, and his heart was beating.

Then he blinked his eyes in the stillness of the purple night. Flakes of snow fell all around him, landing in his skin and eyelashes and melted like rain. He should have been cold, yet he wasn't.

No, he breathed, deeply and slowly, enjoying every sensation as the air passed through his lungs and put the rich bounty of oxygen into the blood stream that traveled through his body guided by his strong heart.

He was real. In the winter night under shining stars that lived too far away to touch, he was real. And he had returned because someone wanted him to be here. He could learn of that later. He had time now.

He drifted as he watched the cold river of stars flowing over him. He was one with the cosmos and all the forces of the universe. He was not afraid. And he was alive once more. At peace, he closed his eyes and slept.

###

The drums and the beating remained. That and the whoosh of the wind surrounded her. Why? Why were the drums important? She had to remember! But she could not. She only thought of Remus and that losing him had been too much of a price to pay.

Tears filled her eyes again, though she thought she had wept herself dry of all moisture. Her throat ached for the primal cries and wails she had done. There was nothing in her any more, and still the drum kept beating. Its steady cadence became such a part of her that if someone were to cut her open and look inside, the only thing that would be left would be the steady beating.

Fighting to swim to the surface of her consciousness, Ginny came awake with excruciating difficulty. Even though most of it had been powered by rage and adrenaline, she had used too much energy to create the blaze that burned down the mansion. She was going to need to sleep for days if she were to properly heal. Her body hurt all over in places she didn't know she could hurt, but it was her heart that was broken.

She sat up and looked at the darkest part of the night, the moment of absolute darkness before the sun remembered to come back and shine blessings down upon its worshipers. As her blank eyes faced the place where the light would appear, she heard the rasp at her ear, the unmistakable sound of breath. She turned her face away from the sun to look down at the body of Remus Lupin. With the first tentative rays of cold and blessed light, creating a halo in her hair, she stared at him breathing slow and steady.

His death was merely sleep. He lived now, and he'd be awake soon. He lived. This she told herself too many times in hopes that she would believe it.

So she lay down near his shoulder where she could listen to the sound of his breath and see the rise and fall of his chest as the oxygen came into his lungs. Soon, she fell asleep, the sound of the steady beat now one of hope for her instead of fear.

###

**New Years Day, Grimmauld Place**

Arthur Weasley walked through the halls of 12 Grimmauld Place with a copy of the most recent _Quibbler_ in his hand. When he got to the kitchen, Kingsley Shacklebolt looked up from the tea he was drinking, surprised to see him there so early that morning.

"Happy New Year! Any news, Arthur? What brings you here?" he asked in his friendly way.

In a serious mood, he replied, "I wanted to get out of the house for a while. I took a stroll and ended up here. I don't have any news about Ginny for you, but this _Quibbler_ has several interesting stories."

Kingsley reached to take the newspaper and read it himself. "This is pure entertainment. My sister reads it and then wraps it around her flowers when she's done with it."

"You know, the editor is my neighbor," Arthur shared and helped himself to a cup of tea.

"I honestly wonder how they come up with these stories," Kingsley commented. He scanned the articles quickly looking for anything of value. "Here's a good one," he said eventually. _"Fire beast levels mansion and part of forest in northern England."_

"That's a potential new weapon we could use against the Death Eaters if we could ever find it! Maybe we should send Xeno and Luna on another hunt," Arthur replied. He, like many other Magical people, was surprised when they did find their crumple-horned snorkack.

Arthur took another drink of tea before an idea came to him with such ferocity that he nearly dropped his cup. "Where did you say that was again?"

Kingsley scanned the article. "It says in the north east, a remote forested region."

"Isn't that were Remus was looking before he was killed?" Mr. Weasley asked, his mind calculating a theory.

"Yes, it was," Shacklebolt said as he studied the other man.

"She _could_ have been there just like he thought," Arthur said.

"We don't know for sure because she became unplottable the moment she got taken from Hogsmeade. I don't want you to get your hopes up for nothing, Arthur," the Auror said with a concerned expression.

Clearing the tea things away with a sweep of his wand, Arthur said, "But that's exactly it. She became unplottable! It's simply brilliant."

"Look, the terrain was unplottable, and Ginny's been unplottable!" Shacklebolt stopped his tirade as the light of understanding came to him. "Merlin's beard! Are you saying..." he asked as he looked over at Mr. Weasley.

Weasley let out a slow, controlled breath of air. "Consider it a bit of fatherly intuition, Kingsley. If I am wrong, please humor a grieving father."

Quickly, he stood up from the table, full of excited hope. "We're on it! I'll get Moody and Tonks."

"I'm coming with you!" he said.

Kingsley looked at the Weasley patriarch and didn't dare question him. Instead, he found the rest of the members of his group to go so they could go find if there were any clues to the whereabouts of Ginny in the burnt destruction.

###

"Remus, wake up," a gentle voice called to him.

Yes, he was remembering something. He had to wake up. The voice asked him again, and it was sweet and tender. He needed to wake up now. With Herculean effort, he opened his eyelids to reveal the light of a brand new day with the earth underneath him and the sky above him.

He felt a single hot drop of rain fall on his cheek and slide down his face. Another drop fell on him, and he moved his gaze away from the sky to the flaming beautiful thing that was curled around him.

"Ginny," he said softly. He seemed to be in a confused mental fog when he asked, "What are we going to name our children?"

A crying laugh rushed out of her throat because he responded to her. She could have continued laughing hysterically, but he turned his gaze to her and stared with some unreadable emotion flickering over his face. She stilled and her deeper emotion made water fill her eyes and a tear make a trail down her cheek.

"You were crying. _Why_ were you crying?" he rasped in bewilderment as he reached up to touch her tears. He rubbed them between his fingertips and looked at them with more fascination than human tears deserved.

"Because I couldn't name our children without you," she said in answer to his strange question. "I needed you to come back to me."

"Oh, good," he said sleepily as he rested back on the ground and dropped his hand.

She leaned over him and kissed his forehead. "When you wake up, I'll still be here."

He didn't consciously hear her. Remus was already cradled in Morpheus's arms.

###

As he slept, Ginny prepared their makeshift camp. She sent around them a shield of fire to guard them from the outside temperatures. She then tore a section of the blanket away to use as a wash cloth. Using melted snow to wet the cloth, she gently cleaned the crusted blood and dirt away from Moony's face.

She smiled to herself as she looked upon him sleeping so free and easy. He looked peaceful and beautiful under the grime. Then with trepidation, she opened the blanket to look at his torso and see where Jonathan had stuck the dagger into him.

What Ginny saw amazed her. She stared at him for far too many minutes to know the exact passage of time. She had expected to see the worst with his innards being barely held together by the severed skin. She'd helped her mother butcher animals at home, and she'd seen how Jonathan had cut him. She had expected to see the gruesome evidence of it riddling Remus's body, but none of it was there.

His abdomen was pristine, without a scar or mark that he had ever been harmed. Ginny dripped the melted snow on him to be sure that her eyes were not deceiving her. Underneath her fingers was perfectly knitted and reformed skin that did not show it had ever been broken at all.

He was a miracle to her, and she couldn't explain it. She didn't want to explain it because the fact that he still lived and breathed was good enough for now. She bowed her head and sent up a silent prayer of thanks to any listening gods for the blessing her with him.

Ginny then got up and retrieved the dagger from where she had driven it into the ground the night before. It was time to go hunting. She returned later with a small wild animal that she had dressed and was roasting on a spit. When Remus woke up, he'd be hungry.

Then they'd plan together how they were going to go home.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric quote for this chapter is from "Don't Dream It's Over" performed by Crowded House on the album _Crowded House_.

The italicized quote Sirius says to Ginny is Song of Solomon 6:10.


	28. Rising From Ash

**CHAPTER 28:  
Rising From Ash**

_I know where the sun goes  
Gone to wake up the sparrows  
In England it's morning  
_~Neil Finn

When Remus opened his eyes again, the position of the sun overhead had changed. He tried to survey the landscape without moving his body because something warned him to be cautious of whatever might be out there. He listened and didn't hear any obvious sounds of predators. He heard the sounds of a snapping fire and winter birds chattering in the distance. He realized then that things were normal wherever they were.

He shifted his gaze and to his right, standing up and looking into the distance was Ginny as if she was a warrior goddess. He looked at her from head to toe, the first time he had been able to truly see her in natural light. She was naked on the winter ground, her long red hair floating around her like a blood nimbus, and in her hand she held a flaming dagger. She was womanly and commanding and utterly breathtaking in her ferocity.

This was not the little shell-shocked twelve-year-old girl he had known only a few years ago. He tried to think back into his memory to figure out if anything then could have predicted what she had become to him now. Had there been some special inevitable moment that he should have noticed? Considering where his head was at before and during his teaching year at Hogwarts, he realized he would have been hard pressed to notice anything at all.

She finally looked at him, and he gave her a soft wordless smile. She removed the flames from the dagger as she crouched down near him to check his body for any injuries. She rested her hand on his smooth belly and looked at him with dark eyes filled with concern.

"How do you feel?" Ginny asked aloud.

§Sleepy… Like I've been drugged, but I'm not afraid,§ he replied directly in her mind.

§Can you speak, Remus?§ she asked gently.

"Yes?" he answered her as a question. Maybe he hadn't been sure he could do it, either.

Nodding her head, she looked at her hand resting near his stomach. When she brought her eyes back to him, he saw that she had been thinking about something that she was not ready to bring to lips or mind. In the meantime, he felt the tips of her fingers lightly drumming on his skin there.

"Are you hungry?" she finally asked. "I have some food if you are. It's not really spiced, but I did the best I could with what was available."

"Actually, I… uh… need to do something else," he said with some measure of embarrassment.

She smiled softly at him because she knew that in some small way his body was definitely returning to rights if he had to take a trip behind the bushes. So she put her arm around his back and steadied him with her other hand as they slowly stood up. Once he was standing to his full height, he swayed a little. His sense of balance was delayed, and spots danced in front of his eyes.

"Let me know if you need help," she called after him as he tottered away on legs as unsure as those of a child who is just learning to walk.

When he returned later, Ginny looked upon him, and her eyes were unreadable. He didn't even try to peak into her mind to know what she might have been thinking. He tried to sit back down on the blanket, and when he was wobbly, she reached her hand up to his to guide him down.

Once he was ready, she handed him a piece of the meat she had cooked. He ate slowly while she looked at him protectively. Minutes passed until she was ready to speak.

"I want to go home, but I'm not going to walk all the way to Devon to get there. It would take too long, and I'm simply too tired," she admitted, the sound of her fatigue clear in her voice. "I say we find the nearest magical house and use the Floo. It's the only logical thing to do, but I don't know where we are or where that nearest house could be. So we will have to do some walking. Can you do it?"

"I think I can. My head is in a fog, but it should clear soon. I hope," he added.

Ginny wrapped her arm around his calf, and pressed her lips to his knee cap. She looked at him again with that strange worried expression that he could just not interpret.

"What is it?" he asked with a weak laugh. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Just your face, and I think I like it very much," she said as she pressed another kiss to his knee. "I think I like the name Wolfgang, by the way. It fits."

"Yes, I'm sure it does," he answered, confused as to why she was talking about someone named Wolfgang.

"You don't remember, do you?" she asked, and she did not mean his question about their children's names. "What happened last night…"

He was still so weak and befuddled that he might not have remembered the details it. She hoped it would not come crashing back into him. Could it actually be a good thing to remember one's own death? She, for one, was determined to put that memory into a compartment in her mind where he was not allowed to go.

"No," he said as he searched his mind for the details that kept eluding him like glittering dust. "What happened?"

"I finally used my fire magic. I got us out," she said and made eyes to the forest around them. "You surely guessed that part, though."

"Ah, I wish I could have seen it," he said in wonder.

"No, you really don't," she said sadly as more tears came to her eyes. She buried her face against his knee so he couldn't see her cry.

He ran his fingers over her hair and then glided his palm across her shoulder. Coaxing her gently, he pulled her from his knee up to his chest where he wrapped both arms around her.

Remus Lupin knew a thing or two about pain. "It's going to hurt for a long time."

Ginny cried in his arms until she fell into a healing sleep again, and he was pulled under right with her.

###

The trio of Aurors and Arthur arrived at the site of the destruction in the early afternoon, Moody uncharacteristically stumbled into Tonks, who caught him. He clutched his head as if suddenly possessed of a headache.

"What is it, Alastor?" she asked.

"I can still see fire everywhere," he said, holding his hand over his normal eye.

Looking around at the burned, ashen earth she said, "Nothing's burning any more."

"But the heat of it still remains, Dora. I can see it," he said momentarily focusing both eyes on her. "Whatever did this is a power of more destruction than I have seen in a very long time."

"My father told me of Muggle weapons that could do this," Tonks said softly as she continued to look at everything.

"This wasn't Muggle science that did this but pure magic at its basest, most elemental form," Moody said. "I can still see residual magic and what had been wards here."

"Do you think it was Voldemort?" she asked in a very soft voice.

"I don't know, but I fear for the Wizarding world if it _was_ him who had access to that much power. If it wasn't him, I would expect a play for the power. It's what I would do," he said before he released his grip on her arm.

Kingsley was standing nearby, and in the naturally commanding way he had, the wizard told them to look through the ash to find any clues that might be there. "Go out only as far as you can make visual contact with someone else. If we can't find anything here, we may have to come back later with other wizards."

"That's if there is anything left to find," Tonks said without much hope as she looked at the situation.

"It's dead," Moody said as he took some ash in his hand and let the dust fall back to the ground. "By the time anything grows here again, we ourselves will have long turned into dust."

"But this destruction is new," Arthur pointed out. "Something happened last night, and it wasn't just a case of New Years Eve revelry gone wrong. I have to know if Ginny was here."

After Weasley's statement, the four people tried to give a very thorough check of the land by inspecting it in quadrants. Everywhere under foot was ash and dead dust that would not have looked out of place on the moon. In some places there were more piles of ash than others, and it took a while to sift through what might have been there. Moody noticed what Kingsley had been working on it and walked over to help him. The tireless searching went on for about two hours. During the first hour, there was chatter as they were working near each other, but as they spread out, it only allowed for a minimum of talking.

When another hour had passed, Tonks returned to the group from her wanderings near the perimeter. "If there was anything here, we'll need a lot of wizards to check the countryside beyond the death line. It would be a major effort for something that we just don't know about."

"I wish we would have brought a broom," Arthur said. "We would have been able to spot the Weasley red hair from above, I'm sure."

The Auror's expression was dubious, and she confirmed that Alastor and Kingsley were of similar mind.

"Let's go back now," she encouraged gently. "We've been looking here for a few hours and found nothing. The sun is already getting lower in the sky, and we can't do more without help."

Arthur looked dejectedly at everything around him after Tonks spoke. When he and Kingsley discussed the _Quibbler_ article at the Headquarters, something within him had told him to look here. It was a last, foolish hope, perhaps, but he listened to it. There was simply nothing to be found.

As Moody discovered, the remains of anything that might have been human here was incinerated so completely that even the bones were turned to ash. Nothing had survived. This place looked like the inferno of hell had come and consumed it all.

Arthur walked away to look once more by himself, but the evidence around him seemed to oppose any fleeting hope he still had. With his shoulders slumped, Mr. Weasley walked back to rejoin the others and Apparate to the Headquarters. While it had been an exercise in futility, he made a small mental note to be sure to tell Xenophilius Lovegood about the accuracy of his article this time. He wiped a tear from his face, and as he did a small speck of gold caught his eye.

Curiously, he looked for the golden light again, which was out of place in the black and grey. Kneeling down to the ground, he poked at it with his fingers only to find a thin golden chain. According to Moody's head readings, it was near the center of where the blaze had been, so there was no logical way to explain how a chain of gold could have survived intact without melting. They should have found it when they were looking before, but somehow this small thing had been missed.

Pulling the chain from the cinders around it, Arthur Weasley fell face first into the ground when he finally saw what it was. His keening wail of grief sent shivers down the spines of the battle hardened trio who were with him.

Kingsley immediately went to him. "Arthur, what is it?"

In his hands was a necklace of no value to anyone else in the world but his Ginny. It had a tiny pendant shaped like a Muggle plug. He had given it to her for a present when she was six years old—a father's special gift to his only little girl.

"Ginny," he answered with a sob. "She was here!" He held up the necklace as a wordless explanation as Moody and Tonks gathered around him.

"She was here!" he shouted again, shaking the necklace in his closed fist.

"But she's not here now," Moody told him in unflinching directness. "Nothing remains."

"And it's possible, that whatever destroyed this land got her in the process," Kingsley said, unhappy to make such a statement aloud. "We don't know what happened."

"But we know she was here," Weasley growled like a caged beast.

Tonks put her hand out to comfort Arthur and then reached around his waist to support him as he stood to his feet.

"Let's go home," she said softly. "We'll talk to Molly and Albus. We'll figure something out."

Giving one last look around, he closed his eyes against the tears that were gathering in his eyes and allowed Nymphadora Tonks to lead him away from the last known place where Ginny had been. Moody and Shacklebolt followed closely behind them with grim expressions on their faces.

###

Both the witch and the werewolf came to wakefulness a little later, but neither one of them had the kind of rest they needed. Ginny cleaned around the camp while Lupin begged more rest before they started moving. So he returned to the blanket they had shared and made to sleep. A few moments later, Ginny got down on the ground and pressed her soft body against his. After a while, he sleepily chuckled.

"What's funny?" she mumbled against his back.

"It's stupid," he said, "but at least my sense of humor still works. I was just thinking that we're both as naked as Adam and Eve. Imagine the looks on everyone's faces when they see us again if we showed up looking like this."

She did, and then she started to chuckle, too. The looks would range from blushing to scandalized with some curiosity and so many other emotions in between. Perhaps all of them would come out at some point on her mother's face.

The casual way he mentioned their return to polite society made Ginny realize that once they got back, the tone of their relationship was going to change. It was unavoidable, and it saddened her because he was _hers_. She felt it with every fiber of her being, and she didn't want to give him up. But her mother and father wouldn't understand. Harry wouldn't understand.

Then Ginny felt even worse and buried her face into Moony's back. What in the world was she going to do about Harry? She knew logically that she couldn't keep both of them, but she was selfish enough to want to. She hadn't stopped loving Potter though she had been imprisoned, and he understood the dark places a person could go. It wasn't for nothing that he kept fighting Voldemort.

She had just… fallen in love with a werewolf. The fact that he was a werewolf was actually the least of her worries. He had been her teacher and one of the best mates of Harry's father. He had been in a long standing relationship with Sirius Black. So even with their friends in the Order, there was no way anyone was going to understand that he was a good match for her.

There were so many reasons on the surface that wanting to be together with him was wrong. This was not a clean and pretty love with easy explanations. This was messy and dirty and complicated.

And he had died. Damn it. Remus Lupin had died.

As the memory replayed in her head, she held tighter to him. She just wasn't ready to let him go yet, not literally and certainly not emotionally for polite society or for any of the other reasons that she should.

As she was thinking, she had been rubbing her fingers on his stomach again, some part of her mind still amazed that he was actually whole. She hadn't consciously realized she had been doing that until he let out a small sigh of pleasure.

"Mmm, belly rubs. Just the perfect thing to soothe the savage werewolf," he said lightly with a little chuckle.

"Well, that's how I'll tell them I tamed you," she said. Then she added, "At least you learned to wolf shift. We could walk right into the midst of people, and no one would mind if you were naked under the fur. Do you think you can still shift?"

"I don't know," he said on a yawn. "I'll try it when I wake up. And they wouldn't need to notice me. They'd be too busy looking at you."

If he were less tired, he could have waxed poetic and told her how she was like the blazing sunrise. He liked the idea, even if it sounded too much like a very badly written love poem. So instead of speaking more about it, he entwined his fingers into hers and drifted off to sleep.

Though Ginny was vigilant, she slept as well. They had been through too much for her not to give in to the rest she needed.

###

That evening Arthur and the three Aurors scrambled to have an emergency meeting of the Order at Grimmauld Place. The Weasley family had gathered, though Bill and Fleur were running late. Harry, Ron and Hermione were also present because Harry demanded to be included as soon as he had heard the news of Ginny's last known location. Dumbledore had arrived with Professors Snape and McGonagall. They waited with interest for the news that Arthur had to tell them.

The air was so tense that not a person interrupted Mr. Weasley in his tale except for Moody to reinforce how completely destroyed the place had been. In listening to it, Hermione had rubbed her shoulders in fear and darted looks to Ron.

"But we found her necklace," Arthur told everyone. "We know without a doubt that she had been there."

"Where, dad?" Bill asked as he and Fleur let themselves into the room to sit down.

"County Durham," he said, showing his son and daughter-in-law the necklace.

Fleur gasped and stood, speaking such excited and fast French that no one in the room could understand. Then Bill got a sinking feeling in his gut like he was going to be sick. He, too, stood up, and put his hand on her forearm to still her.

"Dad, could you show us on the map just exactly where you went?" he asked somberly.

Kingsley pulled out the big book of maps that they had, and Arthur turned to the page, describing the location and size of the area where they had been. As Bill recognized it, his face turned so pale that his freckles almost appeared black against his skin. He looked like he was about to faint.

"Bill, do you know it?" Minerva asked gently.

Harry gave her a grateful look for asking the question and then focused on Bill and Fleur who were acting sick.

"Unfortunately, yes," he rasped. "We were there. We know who had her."

"Who?" Harry asked.

Bill put his arm around his wife and looked from Harry back to his father. "It was Jonathan Moss. The one from the bank who seemed so nice and kept asking us questions about her and Remus."

Arthur's mouth dropped open as he said a plaintive, "No."

"He invited us there for drinks. Fleur didn't want to go because she knew. She knew he was a horrible man!" he said as he hugged his wife close and kissed her through the tears that came to his eyes.

After they shared more details that they knew about him, Dumbledore asked Snape if he knew of a Death Eater by that name. Severus replied sonorously that he wasn't aware of him as a follower of Lord Voldemort.

"If that's true, then Voldemort may not have the weapon that leveled the mansion and everything around it. It's a small consolation," Moody said.

Tonks had been sitting quietly on a chair that was turned opposite to the table. She had been using subdued green hair that night and was resting her chin and forearms across the chair back. She perked up her head as a thought came to her.

"Remus might still be alive! Moss wouldn't have asked about him if he hadn't still been alive at some point, right? So he didn't necessarily die on the full moon!" she exclaimed with a smile.

Then she thought about it some more, and her face turned contemplative. "How is that possible? You did the test, Professor."

Dumbledore considered the question and came up with a plausible explanation. "That _was_ Lupin's blood. The spell did not make a mistake. The body, however, could have been from another werewolf in the area."

"Like a big werewolf fight on the night of the full moon," Ron suggested.

"Quite right, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said to him.

"So now what?" Harry asked him in hopes of direction.

Tonks raised her hand. "I have an idea if it's okay with Arthur. Maybe we can use the necklace with one of those location spells from the book Remus had. It's worth a try."

Arthur agreed and passed the golden treasure to the Auror. Then they discussed other things they could do, such as broom patrols, to continue the search for Ginny and Remus.

###

It was dark before they woke up again. Ginny looked up into the stars and was amazed at their beauty after being without them so long. She was not surprised, however, that they had woken up at night since they had become quite nocturnal while in Jonathan's captivity. They were rarely bothered while he was at work during the day, so it was the only time they really could get sleep.

Remus stood up and stretched his body, enjoying the full range of motion. He wasn't in pain, and he wasn't in shackles. In that moment, he felt well enough to try changing his form. So he crouched down low on all fours as a man and rose up as a wolf.

He seemed rather pleased with himself, so he went hopping through the snow with Ginny laughing after him. He continued to play in a very canine way that made it hard to remember that it was Remus who was inside there somewhere. He didn't let her over think it as he yipped, jumped and head butted her legs. She laughed some more and gave into her own childish sense of play until they were playing chase all over the field.

"I see now I _will_ have to get you a large package of dog toys!" she giggled as she ran away from him on fleet feet.

Finally, she fell down laughing merrily as the big wolf gently pounced on her. He slid off her and changed back into a man, though a much happier looking one than he had been before.

"You know, I've been a werewolf for so long that I hardly remember a time when I wasn't one, but I've never felt an overt kinship to other canines. Now I think I know why dogs seem so happy. They get to play more," he said as he gave a wide and indeed wolfish grin.

He propped himself up on his elbows and looked at her face as she turned her head to him. He took a lock of her hair and twined it around his fingers. His mood changed from frolicking to serious. He seemed to be thinking about something, though he did not say what, and he did not let her in his mind, either. While they still possessed that gift, it seemed nice to speak since they hadn't been able to do it in so long.

"I'm not a good man, Ginny," he finally said aloud. "I want you completely. In all the different ways a man could want a woman, I want you."

He looked so utterly sad to admit it. In different circumstances, it would be exactly what the heroines from the trashy romance stories would want their heroes to say. She had never really read them herself, but she had heard the girls of her year giggling about them often enough and swooning over the men on the covers. She had learned the ineptitude of a too pretty man at a young enough age thanks to Gilderoy Lockhart.

With her own measure of sadness, she put her hand to his and said, "Neither one of us is really a good person right now."

He then subtly moved his face to lightly kiss the inside of her wrist. Her breath caught in her throat as he did it, and she felt that electricity skittering all over her skin. She opened her mind to him so he could know how she felt when he touched her like that. He then dropped his own defenses as he continued to worship her skin by moving kisses down her arm to the inside of her elbow.

She sighed because she knew without a doubt that sex with him if it would ever happen would be what her mother liked to call making love. It would be different than anything Stewart had done to her. It would be something to unite their bodies as closely as their minds and souls were entwined. Ginny knew this to be true, and she wanted it so much. But she tried to hold a reign on those thoughts.

It seemed that Remus was going through his own thinking process underneath the pleasure as he sat up and looked down on her, splayed on the winter earth with her red hair falling all around her and her bare nipples pointing perkily to the sky. The light the moon afforded them was very little, but he could see her well enough with both the eyes of a man and the heart of a werewolf.

He also realized with some surprise a fact that had not occurred to him in the entire day. They were both outside in the dead of winter as naked as they day they were born, and he hadn't been cold at all the entire time. Ginny had been using her magic continually, and he worried that she might suffer further if she kept using it too long without interruption.

"What is it? Why did you stop?" she asked in hopes that he would get right back to it.

He did a self-deprecating laugh before explaining, "You deserve better than this, and I think we had better find real shelter soon. Something to eat. A nice bath."

She had to admit that sounded wonderful. So with great regret, she got up from the ground and walked back to where the blanket and dagger had been. She fashioned the blanket around her as a shawl to carry it more easily.

Moony shifted again to his wolf form and the pair set out walking to the direction Ginny thought was south. They kept close together so his furry shoulder brushed her bare thigh. When he would take a chance to look at her instead of the path she had chosen, he saw again that she was the only thing of color in the world to his canine eyes.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter is from "Faster Than Light" performed by Neil Finn on the album _Try Whistling This_.


	29. Time Out of Time

**CHAPTER 29:  
Time Out of Time**

_Total surrender, Your touch is so tender  
Your skin is like water on a burning beach  
And it brings me relief  
_~Neil Finn

The werewolf and the fire witch walked through the night together and didn't find a house before the dawn light came. That left them with the choice of continuing and hoping to get human attention or sleeping during the day. The decision was finally made for Ginny when she slept from exhaustion. She curled up next to Lupin's furry form while he kept watch over her.

After she had some rest they continued their journey. Though she could melt the snow with her magic, Ginny still lamented the lack of shoes because of what was under the ground. She knew she wouldn't be scarred thanks to Jonathan's spell, but that still did not alleviate the pain in her feet.

It wasn't until late evening after they had been traveling nearly twenty-four hours that the pair came upon the first sign of civilization. It was a small cottage with the owners obviously not home. It seemed absolutely unremarkable, but it was definitely the home of magical people.

Ginny walked silently forward and used her dagger to help let them into the house. They both stepped inside and took a look around the modest home. The owners seemed to be on holiday and not expected back for several days. The wall calendar had some excited notations about the trip, though it reminded Ginny that the last concrete thing she had was Jonathan's Christmas dinner. All else blurred together.

"We don't have to rush away for fear of the owners finding us," she said as she pointed at the calendar.

Remus walked ahead to look at the paperwork near the calendar. "It looks like they don't expect to be back until January 11, and the Floo connection is off until January 10. We can wait here until the Floo comes back, or we can go back out in the elements and try to find another magical house."

When he looked at how exhausted Ginny was, the decision was made for the both of them. Wearily confirming his thought, she said, "I want a bed. So do you."

"That and a bath," he said as if the thoughts were simply orgasmic.

"Yeah," she said. "I'll make something to eat. Why don't you go start a bath?"

He went off to explore the rest of the house because the idea of running a bath was very appealing. Ginny then tried to put something together to eat. She had actually learned a lot from her mother in that area despite her best efforts not to do so.

She was very pleased with the meal she had made once it was ready, but Lupin had not yet come away from the bath. So Ginny went looking for him to tell him the food was warm. When she got to the bathroom she saw him neck deep in a tub full of bubbles. She laughed at the absurdity of seeing him like that and so obviously joyful.

"I thought you'd shriveled up and fallen down the drain," she teased. "The food's ready."

"The food can wait," he said as he gestured for her.

She was looking at him skeptically, but he told her to take off the blanket she still had around her shoulders. At first she was reluctant, but then she let it fall to the floor before getting into the bath with him. It was a pretty tight fit, but it felt wondrous. She leaned back against him as he wrapped his arms around her, and Ginny relaxed for the first time in a long time. Remus thought she might have fallen asleep in his arms, but when the water started to chill, she just used her fire magic to heat it back up again.

"That's a good talent," he said as he put a kiss to her temple. She sighed in contentment as he did it.

"There's only one thing that could make this better," Ginny said after a while.

"What's that?" he asked at her ear, the breath tingling her ears and sending pleasure shivers down her spine.

"A bigger tub and maybe the food in here with us. Two things, then," she said.

"The lady gets what she wishes," he said before wiggling to stand up.

It was awkward with them both in the bath, but he stepped out of it still covered with bubbles in several places. Then he padded into the kitchen to bring in the food. He sat on the floor beside the tub as Ginny ate in contented silence.

"I feel like Goldilocks from the children's story," she admitted. "I've come into someone else's home and am searching for things that are just right. She wanted food and a bed, too."

"Yes," he agreed with dramatic eyes, "but she ate porridge, and we both hate porridge."

"With a passion!" Ginny laughed.

She finished the soup and handed him the empty bowl. He took the dishes to the kitchen while she got out and looked for a towel to pat herself dry.

###

Unlike the cottage for Goldilocks and those three bears, this cottage only had one bed for the both of them to share. Remus looked back over his shoulder to see Ginny wearing a bath towel looking at both the bed and him. He artlessly pointed to it and moved to get under the covers. He made happy noises as he did so because the mattress felt comfortable and the sheets were fresh and clean.

Ginny padded over to the bed and dropped the towel before sliding under the cool sheets. She made her own surprised gasp as if she had never known the simple wonder of having a bed before. It was almost a perfect still moment until Remus shifted his weight and rolled on his side to look at her.

She opened her eyes and saw his silver gaze. She had known him long enough to know that his eyes weren't always silver, and she found the shift fascinating. He was more primal when he let the inner silver out, and he was more subdued and polite when his eyes appeared grey.

"What is it?" she asked as he wordlessly stared at her.

He admitted to her the fact that the only color he could see while in his wolf form was her. It seemed strange and wonderful, and Ginny put her fingers up to stroke his face lovingly. As she did so, she felt the ever present electricity between them spike again. He did have enough restraint to suggest that they should go right to sleep.

His prudence won out, and that first night in the cottage, that was all they did together in that bed.

###

When morning came to Devon that Saturday, Molly Weasley was sitting down to a cup of coffee at the breakfast table. Everything in their home and with their friends in the Order had been in a flurry since they had a small clue of Ginny's last known location. Tonks had been working diligently on the spells from the Ravenclaw book, but she hadn't come to any results yet. Her positive attitude, though, seemed to get her through temporary disappointments, and Molly appreciated all the help the Metamorphmagus gave them.

Mrs. Weasley looked up at her clock, and saw something in motion that she was sure hadn't been there mere seconds before. Ginny was on her way home. Molly almost dropped the cup in disbelief. She tried to set it down delicately while she calmed herself. The effort to remain calm didn't work.

Molly got up screaming her husband's name. He had been in the foyer before he was going to Apparate to see Fred and George in London. He ran into the room at her hysterical voice, to see her pointing to the clock that had been dormant for over two months. Arthur pulled her into his arms and held her close as they both broke down and cried in relief.

"Tell the boys!" she demanded. "Tell the boys she's on her way back home!"

"I will!" he said as he kissed his wife in relief.

###

When Ginny next awoke, she wasn't sure how long she had slept, but she felt truly rested for the first time since before Jonathan had taken her. She actually felt good, and it was a terribly strange feeling because it had evaded her so long. Then she noticed with some surprise that Remus and all his warm skin was in the bed beside her.

She got up to use the loo while he was still sleeping, and immediately rushed back to the bed when she was done. She cuddled close beside him and enjoyed the freedom to run her fingers over his chest, particularly near his heart where the arrow scar had been. When Remus came to consciousness, he stilled her fingers.

"Good… morning?" he asked as he took a lazy sigh. "Keep the bed warm. I'll be right back."

He returned to the bed quickly and had a very restful look on his face as he sat up against the pillows. Ginny took the chance to touch his chest again at the same place she had been rubbing when he woke up.

"You used to have a scar there," she explained. "I just saw it after the full moon. How is it not there now?"

"I don't know," he said.

There were a lot of things he realized he didn't know, especially about the recent past and the night they got free. He didn't mind the result, but the fact that he couldn't remember was beginning to trouble him. He scowled as he thought of it.

"You shouldn't do that or your face will freeze when the wind changes," Ginny teased him.

Then she leaned over to deeply kiss him. She had been kissing him for days because he had finally broken that barrier with her, and every time they did she tingled inside. His kisses, though wonderful, always had some bit of reserve to them as if he were afraid to break her or cause her further harm. She liked that he was cautious and respectful. He had been waiting for her to show her boundaries, especially in light of what Stewart had repeatedly done to her.

"I want more than your kisses," she finally admitted aloud. She could have been embarrassed at her honesty, but it didn't seem to be the place for lies.

"No," he said guardedly.

"No? What do you mean 'no'? You want me, too! You told me you did, and now that we're both rested and in a bed with little chance of interruption you don't?" she said with the stirrings of anger.

"Oh, I want you," he said on a sigh. "Unfortunately. But I want you to think about it first. If we go to that place, neither one of us is coming back from it the same way. It changes people, and it can be a great change for some of them. With others, it can be a disaster waiting to happen. Ask yourself if you would want to do any of the things in your head with the same man you spilled Wolfsbane Potion on in October."

"That's not fair. We aren't the same people any more," she said. She slumped back to the bed and rolled away from him, giving him her back.

Dark silence passed before Ginny said, "What about you? Would you have wanted me in October? It's _your_ question, Remus."

He didn't answer immediately, and whatever thought process was going through his head was not shared with her. He finally said, "You're right. It's not a fair question. Ginny, I just don't want you to make a mistake. We'll get back, and you'll have Harry waiting for you. You shouldn't waste your time with me."

"It's not wasting my time, not when I love you," she sighed, feeling embarrassment for the first time in his presence.

Remus wasn't going to tell her she was too young to know what love was. He had been sixteen himself when he and Sirius first got together. The thought of telling her what she could or could not feel seemed a tad hypocritical in that light. He also knew that against all his rational instincts, he most definitely wanted her. Whether or not it was right or wrong or foolish or wise didn't eliminate the real desire he had running through him.

So he kissed her shoulder and opened his mind to her as he whispered, "If you want this, you have to take the lead this first time. I don't want you to have a panic attack because you're having war memories of some other man. I'm not Stewart, but I can be aggressive. It's a quality you may appreciate later, but it might confuse you at first. So right now we'll go at your pace. Do you understand?"

"I think so," she said as she turned her body back to him and sat up in bed.

"Then by all means," he said looking up at her luminous beauty, "take me."

Ginny let her mental barrier down so they could fully be the people they had learned to be with each other, the ones without secrets who knew exactly what each other felt. It made the slow exploration of each other's bodies a unique and delicious torture. She touched every inch of skin that she had longed to feel under her hands and mouth, while he in turn satisfied his own curiosity upon her. As they felt each others' pleasure from within and without, it was a relief of a sort not have to speak out loud appreciation for certain touches.

Remus was patient, and when she was ready she climbed on top of him, sliding his length fully inside her. She paused to enjoy the sensation of him there as he put his guiding hands on her hips. They began to rock their bodies in rhythm, and he asked mind to mind that she look him in the eyes. When she did so, the breath caught in his throat, and he felt everything about their shared experience spiraling. Finally he gasped out his climax as he felt hers shuddering above him.

Ginny fell to his chest as they both tried to recover their equilibrium.

§Wow. Better than flying a broom,§ she thought with amazement.

§And just like flying a broom, the more you practice, the better you get,§ he replied, sounding a combination of sleepy, satiated and very smug.

She echoed his sleepy thought and suggested before she drifted off to blissful post-coital rest that they should try it again soon.

###

Once they had slept some more, the couple spent the rest of that day exploring each other's bodies, and Remus gave Ginny quite a sexual education. She was an apt pupil, but he told her that she was never _ever_ allowed to call him Professor when they were being intimate. Of all his kinks, and he admitted to having several, that was not one of them. He considered it a mood killer since they had once had a real relationship within those parameters.

The days passed in the little cottage before the inevitable return of the owners, during which they would wake in each others arms or he would wake her with kisses and play her body like a symphony. The first time he'd suggested cunnilingus, the idea reminded her of the blushing jokes among the people in her year at Hogwarts. But he had asked her to trust him, and he guided himself down her hips and waited until she was wet and wanting. Then he licked her with his tongue, and his fingers did things to her that she didn't know were possible.

When he had finished, Remus rested his head at the inside of her hip and had his arm slung over her stomach. The light in his eyes was rather devilish as he watched her come back from her orgasm. He blinked slowly a few times as he felt the shuddering after-effects in Ginny's mind. It was intoxicating to truly know exactly how the other felt about every bit of pleasure.

"I'm never going to want to touch another person again, am I?" she had asked teasingly.

"I should hope not," he had said as he pulled himself back up to lie beside her.

So they spent their time learning who they were when the world only amounted to two people who were madly in love with each other. Remus had never thought himself lucky enough to love again after the death of Sirius. He was continually surprised by it and held on to the emotions greedily like a goblin guarding his treasure.

###

"You like doing that, don't you?" Ginny laughed at him one time later as he was preparing once more to show her his skill with his mouth.

Their time together in this strange house felt like a honeymoon of a sort as they continued to get to know each other and find ways to satisfy the desires of the flesh. It felt dreamlike and unreal with every moment a blessing.

"Yes, I do, actually," he spoke with a laugh before mentally adding, §and so do you.§

He was right that she did. He was right about so many things that he had done to her, and she looked forward to what he was going to do. Suddenly, though, an evil thought invaded her mind that hurt her so much in the midst of it that she started crying hot silent tears. It had no place in the middle of his worship of her. It was embarrassing because it was a confusing mix of emotions that bubbled up to the surface all at once and demanded to get out. She tried to shove the thought out and make it go away, but the more she fought it, the worse the battle became.

When Remus felt her become distracted, he sat up and put his chin on her knee. "What is it? I can't have been very good if you're crying in the middle of one of my best performances."

Ginny tried to squeeze her eyes shut to make the swirling thoughts go away. She finally admitted, "I don't want to leave you, Remus. Ever. I don't want us to stop being _us_. As soon as we go back, you'll have to be old Professor Lupin, and I'll have to be Arthur and Molly's daughter. It won't be the same, and it's going to kill me inside."

He crawled around the outside of her leg to lie by her left side. He put his arm across her in a possessive gesture and waited quietly while he adjusted from the tonal shift from sensual to sad and then to pensive. Ginny had her face turned away from him while she tried to get control of herself.

"Do you know I have my own home?" Remus finally said with a distant thinking tone. "It's nothing special. I'm sure it's falling apart because I haven't been there since Sirius convinced me to stay with him at Grimmauld Place. But it is mine. I have this fantasy that I take you there, and we hide away from the rest of the world."

"Like we're the last man and woman on earth," she said as if the thought appealed to her as well.

"Something like that," he agreed with sad eyes. "It's a good fantasy."

"I'd love to be that person with you," she said before she tried to kiss him to make all her fears go away.

It took them a while to come back from the sadness, since that was always a part of the relationship they were forging. Once they were both back in a sufficiently intimate frame of mind, Ginny then rolled Remus over on his back to give him fair treatment to be on the receiving end of the same kind of the same pleasure he had been trying to give her before. He didn't mind the turn about at all and surrendered to her mouth that was starting to work wonders upon him.

###

On the day the Floo was to be reconnected to the network, Remus woke Ginny up with kisses at her neck and stubble that scratched her skin. She giggled sleepily as he told her, "Goldilocks, we'll have to clean up our mess before the Three Bears come back home."

Three Bears Cottage is what they had affectionately named the place where they had been staying. It was a little silly, but it fit their sensibilities since he had been the Big Bad Werewolf.

"That probably makes me Red Riding Hood," Ginny had said wryly, but she preferred the fact that he called her Goldilocks.

Lupin watched her wake up beside him, and she still had that dreamy satisfied look on her face. He tried to etch every part of it into his memory because he knew it would be a long time if ever before he would be able to see it again.

Once Ginny was sufficiently awake, they prepared breakfast and did all the cleaning that they could do while still in the house. They did try to leave it better than they had found it, though the food supplies were much lower.

"We can leave a note to offer to pay them back later," Remus suggested.

Then they waited for the inevitable connection of the Floo network that would require them to return to the polite society that they had involuntarily left months ago. It made their day excruciating and frantic as they tried to wring out every last drop that they could claim was theirs. In the evening, after the couple had suffered from being on edge all day, the Floo roared back to life, and they both turned to stare at it.

"I guess this is it," Ginny said as she stared into the scary orifice.

She started to walk forward to the flagstones, and Remus grabbed her arm to hold her back. It was as if he knew the moment they crossed the threshold back into the world of magic that their lives would change.

"I need to do this," before pulling her into his arms to kiss her senseless with the depth of feeling he had for her. Remus then rested his forehead against hers and said, "They won't understand."

"Are you going to give up on me?" she asked, not sure she wanted the answer.

"No, but I can't just walk in to your father's house acting like we're… us, can I?" he pointed out.

"I thought you'd be used to people staring at you by now," she said and grumbled something about him not being ashamed of his relationship with Sirius Black.

He was so frustrated he barked out, "I'm not ashamed of you! But think of it from my point of view. I have people already thinking I'm a sodding poofter because of the relationship I had with Sirius, and now I'll quite possibly be considered a pedophile who mostly likely preyed upon his students because of the one I now have with you. It's not an easy position I'm going to be in, Ginny."

"You can't control what other people think, right?" she asked with a shaky smile. "I'm sorry, Remus."

He grimaced as he looked at the now active Floo. "The heart wants what the heart wants."

"Yes, it does," she agreed before kissing him once more.

When she was done, Ginny nervously took Moony's hand to calm herself. He nodded his agreement, and then she shouted the name of her parental home.

"Here we go," she said before they stepped into the fire.

###

On the other side of the fireplace, the Weasley family had been holding a vigil since Molly saw Ginny's clock change. Arthur had started sleeping on the sofa in the room with the Floo, and Molly only went out to errands when there was someone else to stay and watch the house.

That night, Arthur was already in his sleeping clothes getting ready to take his post in front of the fire. He tried to read the newspaper, but he was extremely restless. Since Molly saw the clock moving, people had been barraging him with questions about when he expected his only daughter to come home. It hurt not to have any definite answers.

He had lunched with Bill, and no one in the bank had heard anything from Jonathan Moss. He seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Arthur reckoned he had disappeared into ash, and he was almost rude enough to say so out loud. He just didn't want to open his mouth about it because he feared he would never be able to close it again if all his rage came rushing out.

His eyes were tired, and he was about to turn off the light when he heard the sound of the Floo roaring to life before an entrance. At nearly the same moment, the Weasley clock in the kitchen chimed with the sound of Ginny's unique bell. Then within seconds he saw his daughter and Remus Lupin hand in hand falling out of the fireplace onto the flagstones of the Weasley hearth.

Though he had been waiting for them, Arthur couldn't speak. His throat was constricted, and his eyes were watering. He knew one thing, though, and that was his beautiful Ginny was home.

After his moment of shock had passed, Mr. Weasley charged forward and took his daughter in his arms, hugging her so close as if to do so would be the balm to all the pain he had suffered while she was missing. She held him back tightly, too, with tears in her eyes that she was actually back home with her loving father.

Remus watched the reunion and wondered idly if anyone would be so happy to see his return. It seemed the days before he went to find Ginny had not been good ones with his small circle of friends. Either way, the only person whose love he really cared about at this point was being crushed by her father's embrace.

As if to reprimand him for even thinking it, Arthur let Ginny loose only slightly and pulled Remus closer to him, too. Once he felt composed after much more hugging, Mr. Weasley called up to his wife.

"Molly, she's home." The voice he used was soft and scratchy, reminiscent of many nights spent with tears both shed and unshed as he waited for news of his daughter.

Mrs. Weasley had already rushed down the stairs in her night dress and cap and stopped midway to look at them where they stood being hugged by Arthur. Once her husband had set them free, Molly let out a cry that was almost unrecognizable as human. She practically jumped from the stairs in the haste to get to her daughter.

She gave so many hugs and kisses and asked so many questions on top of each other that Ginny couldn't even respond. Instead, she was smothered with her mother's love. Arthur reached for Lupin's hand again to shake his arm off, but then decided to hug him again. Remus took what was offered and stored it in his well of good feelings.

"Are you hungry?" Molly finally asked, pulling away from Ginny. "You've got to be hungry. You're both skin and bones!"

"Food would be nice, mum," the younger witch said softly.

"I'll make you something right away!" she agreed. To her husband she said, "Arthur, get her brothers and Albus. We're going to have a celebration!"

"Dad," she called. "Make sure Fleur comes. Please."

"Fleur?" he questioned before promising her whatever she wanted.

"I thought you didn't like Fleur," Molly whispered like it was a state secret.

"I changed my mind," Ginny said as she followed her mother into the kitchen.

She reached behind her to take Lupin's hand in her own as they walked there, and he could not refuse her. Then the two slid into the inside of the table and were sitting so close together their legs and forearms touched without any effort. To make it easier when eating, Ginny dropped her hand to rest on Moony's knee under the table.

They were both quiet while Molly was chattering about recent events and avoiding questions about how and why they had been gone and how they had returned. Perhaps she was not sure how to approach the subject, or perhaps she was waiting for the rest of the family to show up. In either case, Ginny was grateful. She was not sure she wished to enumerate her sins.

Allowing himself to show affection for her, Remus put his arm around Ginny's shoulder and left his hand gently stroking her arm. She could just lean into him and hear his heartbeat. She could sleep like that and be perfectly happy. Remus was touching her, and she was home. That made everything right in Ginny's world at least for that small moment.

Soon the rest of her family and the close friends from the Order would show up. Then the inquisition would begin.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter is from "Nails in my Feet" performed by Crowded House on the album _Together Alone_.


	30. Reunion and Explanations

**CHAPTER 30:  
Reunion and Explanations**

_Lean and hungry with a fire in your eyes  
I'll play catch-up, you can show me where it's at  
I'll go along with anything that you want to do  
_~Neil Finn

The word was sent out quickly, and Arthur returned to the kitchen to stare at his daughter, who seemed curled up in the protection of Lupin's arm. Mr. Weasley frowned at her distress, and hugged his wife's shoulders as he passed by her to sit down at the table. Molly was uncharacteristically quiet as she watched her daughter and the werewolf.

"How are you?" he asked her, his mouth a line of worry on his face.

Ginny sat up away from Remus and put her forearms on the table. She looked at her father and said truthfully, "For two whole months, all I wanted to do was come home."

"We tried to find you," he said as tears welled in his eyes. Molly stepped forward and put her hand comfortingly on her husband's shoulder while he in turn held Ginny's hand.

Mrs. Weasley continued the story, "All the traces of you ended up cold. Moody and Tonks tried their best. Only Remus believed he could find you. Thank you, Remus."

Molly gave him a considering look that was a mix of confusing emotions. His body language with Ginny practically screamed possessive and protective, but he had covered it so quickly, she could almost allow herself to ignore it. Almost. Her motherly senses were ringing like a bell. Her baby was back, though, and that was the most important thing right now.

"For the record, I did find her," Remus said. "I wasn't so crazy as everyone believed."

"No one thought you were crazy, dear," Molly said.

He gave her a wry look that showed he believed the contrary. "You're being kind."

"Mum," Ginny asked shyly, "may I go take a bath? I'm disgusting from travel, and I'd like to wear my own clothes."

"Of course!" she answered and twittered around her.

Ginny got up from the table and left the room leaving Remus alone with her father. The men who remained were quiet. Arthur studied the werewolf's face with an undisguised directness that he seldom used.

"I could use a bath, too," Lupin said to break the uncomfortable silence.

Arthur looked in agony as he finally asked the one question with an answer he feared knowing. "Was she hurt, Remus?"

Lupin dropped his head, almost submissively, and then looked at the elder Weasley with unflinching candor. "Yes. In every way possible, including the ones a father never wants to think about. I'm sorry Arthur."

Weasley nodded and stood up from the table to get a bottle of firewhiskey and two glasses. He wordlessly poured two portions and handed one over to the family friend. They saluted each other before downing the brew with one gulp. Once they were done, Remus put his glass on the table beside Arthur's to let him pour another drink.

"How are you?" Weasley asked sincerely after he'd refreshed their glasses.

Lupin leaned back on his seat with a sigh and then told Arthur, "I'm not well, but it's more than I want to talk about right now. I might get to okay eventually, but it will take a _long_ time."

"Full moon Monday night," he said.

Lupin did his typical slight smile. "I know. I didn't know the name of the day was Monday, but I always know when the full moon is. I just hadn't worried about it. We were trying to get her home."

Weasley took another drink and said, "I think I have some spare robes you can wear. Follow me."

Remus downed the full shot of firewhiskey before standing up to go after him.

###

Once Arthur had Lupin prepared with supplies, Remus met Ginny as she was coming out of the bath freshly dressed and looking like a normal teenage witch for the first time in a long time. She looked like the girl she still was instead of the fierce warrior goddess he knew her to be. He thought to himself that he liked this Ginny, too, and his thought process might have been evident in his eyes. Molly coughed pointedly, and he shook out of his brief trance.

"Your father let me use some of his robes," he said while lifting them up as evidence.

"You'll enjoy the bath," Ginny said almost shyly as she walked away with her mother.

"Excuse me then," Remus said as he let himself in the small room.

While he was in the bath alone, he heard the sounds of different people arriving downstairs. There were shouts and laughter, and for the most part it sounded like the typical Weasley household. He imagined what would be happening as he stayed in the water that didn't have the benefit of bubbles or a fire witch to reheat it when it got cold. As he listened to the building cacophony below, he wondered if there would be a part for him down there. He admitted to himself that the thought was maudlin, but he wasn't sure he wanted to join the crowds of happy people yet.

What would he do when the night was done? He could go back to the room he kept at the Order headquarters. He also had to figure out what he was doing for the full moon. After that, he would do what he promised Tonks before he'd gone to find Ginny. He was going to move out of Grimmauld Place for good and go to his own humble home. It was time for some repairs. That would keep him busy for a while.

He jumped and made a splash when he heard an unexpected knock on the bathroom door. "Remus, are you okay in there?"

"Nymphadora?" he asked with surprise.

"Please, just Tonks. Yes, it's me," she said.

"Come on in," he said, honestly happy at the prospect of seeing the Metamorphmagus again.

When she came in, she had long white hair with purple tips, and her eyes were a jeweled blue green. Lupin approved. "You're pretty like that!"

"Thank you," she said as she leaned against the wall. She chewed her bottom lip before saying, "We thought you'd died. I can't believe you're here."

"In the flesh," he said and put his head back on the lip of the tub.

"Can you talk about it yet?" she asked. "I mean, if you want to I'll listen."

"I just might. Thank you," he said. "You know, I never thought that we were close friends, but we are. Aren't we?"

"Yes, of course. I don't want your puppies, Lupin, but I _am_ your friend," she said. "So if you need an ear, I have several. You can even pick the ones you like the best."

He laughed at her joke, the first smile that reached all the way to his eyes in a while. Then he said, "Well, I'd better go downstairs and be friendly. After all, no one likes an anti-social werewolf."

Remus stood up in the bath and reached for the towel, which Tonks handed to him. His lack of reserve had surprised her considering he would never have done anything like that before he'd gone off to find the Weasley girl. After Lupin dried himself, he put on Arthur's borrowed robes, and they walked out of the room.

###

As Moony descended the stairs, he saw several heads of Weasley red, and that made him smile at the glorious sight. Moody and Kingsley had come with Tonks, and Dumbledore was speaking to Ginny who was standing uncomfortably apart from the group. He could not hear the Headmaster, but she looked as if she felt nervous with every new person who entered the house.

Harry, Ron and Hermione stood awkwardly on the other side of her. Ron looked shocked but happy to see his sister, and Harry looked as if he was falling apart on the inside. Remus had empathy for the boy because he knew too well what that felt like. Hermione had her arm linked through Ron's and nodded as she listened intently to Professor Dumbledore.

Ginny didn't act lively until she saw Fleur walk in with her husband Bill.

"Fleur!" she shouted before shoving people out of the way to get to her. She practically crushed the French witch with one of the fiercest hugs anyone in the room had ever seen.

If the other witch was taken by surprise at such an enthusiastic reception, she acted nonplussed. Instead, Fleur hugged her back and stroked her hair as Ginny burst into tears and started messily crying all over her. She tried speaking and just ended up crying harder, so Fleur comforted her in soft French words that she might have used with her own younger sister Danielle.

When Ginny finally let go of the woman, she said with almost a low growl, "I saw you when Jonathan had me. You _knew_ he was evil. He didn't fool you, not at all."

Ginny's face started to crumple again, and she let go of Fleur so she could leave the room and wash the tears away with a fresh cloth. The young Mrs. Weasley followed her to provide the support she might need.

"So Fleur is Ginny's best friend right now?" Ron questioned in confusion.

"Seems so," Potter said as he looked at the direction the two witches had gone.

"You know how it is, Harry. A really bad situation will bring things out of you that you never thought possible," Lupin said as he stepped over to the boy.

"I know, but Fleur?" Ron asked though Lupin's comment had not been directed at him.

"Ginny saw Fleur when we were… gone. It's like an anchor," Remus said before excusing himself from the teenagers.

He walked to where Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall were standing talking to Moody. The Potions Master turned to the werewolf and pointed out that he did not have any Wolfsbane Potion ready for the full moon.

"Thank you, Severus, but I won't need it," Remus said.

"What do you mean you won't need it? You're still a werewolf, aren't you?" he asked with the normal amount of icy disdain that usually filled his voice.

"He is, but he doesn't need it," Ginny said with an edge of aggression that surprised the small group of people.

Remus turned his body to include her in the circle. He was surprised that she had been able to sneak up on him.

"And why, pray tell, would he not need it?" Snape asked with unmasked curiosity.

"Fire lives in him now, so why should he have to fear the light of the moon?" she asked, staring daggers at the man.

McGonagall tried to diffuse the situation. "It seems there are some things we all need to learn about the time you were away."

Ginny instinctually reached for Moony's hand though she kept her eyes on her head of house. After a tense moment of staring, she agreed. It seemed to be the reason everyone was there, and she might as well satisfy their curiosities with what she was willing to tell. So she went to sit at the table in the kitchen with all other people in the house staring at the pair of them.

"This is going to be interesting," Moody remarked dryly.

Before Ginny could begin, he looked through his jacket for a special pair of heat sensitive glasses. After having visited the destruction of Moss Manor, he felt it was his responsibility to research what fire beast or weapon could have created such devastation. He was hoping their story would provide him with the clues.

###

Ginny and Remus sat down together at the table where they had earlier eaten a light bite of supper. She looked at the assembled crowd, and in some part of her mind she realized that they hadn't all gathered for her after her ordeal with Tom in the Chamber of Secrets. It started to make her angry, but she reminded herself that she got through it, even if she still had nightmares. Those nightmares came less frequently now after having been replaced by new ones.

"I was taken from Hogsmeade by men who worked for Jonathan Moss. He very proudly worked with Bill, and told me about it quite gleefully once he knew it. He didn't take me _because_ of Bill, but I think it was a bonus for him," she said.

"I told you he smiled too much," Fleur hissed to her husband. Ginny smiled softly at her sister-in-law.

"He loved realizing Bill worked with him. He didn't know who I was before that. I was just some random girl to him. He didn't care. But after he met Bill and Dad, he was especially cruel because he actually knew who we were then," she said as unemotionally as she could. "I'm _not_ going to tell you everything he did to me. It is not worth repeating."

Remus continued with the story after Ginny's eyes took a hollow look to them, "I used one of the spells from Flitwick's books to find Ginny after I got her mirror from Molly."

"You did?" she asked as she turned her head curiously to him.

"Yes, but it's broken now," he said only to her.

"Of course, it is," she lamented. "That's fitting, I guess."

"I did find her, but I was captured in the process, the full moon being what it is," he said to the others. "He loved having a werewolf in his captivity. We were both held in the dungeon of his house. The entire place was unplottable, and I am sure that was to allow him fun with his 'guests.'"

Bill spoke up at this point, dread gnawing at his stomach. "So that night Fleur and I were there for drinks, you were in the house?"

"Yes," Ginny answered him. "And I saw you. He made sure there was a remote viewing spell transmitting the entire visit right to me. I tried to get Fleur's attention, but she didn't see it."

"That bastard," Bill said murderously but stifled any other words so the story could continue.

"Jonathan was particularly proud of his experimental magic," Remus said as he continued the tale. "He had a Full Moonlight Spell that could simulate moonlight so accurately that he could force a werewolf to shift any time of the month."

He slumped his shoulders tiredly. "Albus, Severus, I can share with you what I remember of the spell. The Order should be aware of it in more detail in case Voldemort also discovers the same magic. If he does, he'll have an army of werewolves at his disposal any time, and we can't have that happen."

Snape moved to the front of the crowd of people listening to their tale. "Does that spell explain why you no longer need Wolfsbane Potion?"

"Not directly, but there was an unduplicable side-effect thanks to Ginny," he said.

"Well, Miss Weasley?" the Potions Master said as he crossed his arms in front of him.

"I was able to interrupt the spell one time. It was enough to stop working on Remus," she said. It was a truthful though incomplete explanation.

Moody had been watching this exchange and put the heat sensitive glasses on when the pair were talking. He registered the normal human thermal levels of those gathered in the room, but he also saw a white core to Ginny that was different than the others around her. He also noticed, but wasn't sure he was seeing it right, that Remus had a much smaller center of white in him.

"What do you know of any fire magic that he might have been using?" Moody asked.

"That wasn't _his_ magic," Ginny said, sounding incensed that anyone could think her special magic might have been caused by that madman.

Before she could protest further, Remus put his hand on her shoulder to still her. "What are you talking about, Alastor?"

"On New Years Day we went to the site of his house. It doesn't exist any more," he said as he studied the pair. "So when did you two get out?"

"New Years Eve," Ginny said.

"What happened then? How did you get out?" Moody asked again as he studied them with his glasses on to watch their heat signatures.

"I don't actually know," Remus said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"He was unconscious," Ginny lied, her internal heat spiking in the view of Moody's special glasses. "I wrapped him in a blanket and pulled him out of the burning house and kept going."

"You must have been very good at hiding. We went there and looked for you, but there was no sign of you except this," Tonks said as she held out to Ginny the necklace Arthur had given to her care.

"Oh," she said as she held out her hand to take it from the Auror. To Remus she said, "Stewart took this from me."

Moony let out a visceral growl at the mention of his name that startled several of the people gathered in the kitchen.

After her heartbeat returned to normal, Tonks told them, "It was the only real clue we had that you'd been there. Arthur found it in the dust."

Ginny turned her shining gaze to her father and looked at him with all the love that filled her heart.

"So what took you so long to get back?" Ron asked to break the ice.

"Ronald!" Hermione swatted him with her left hand as if his reasonable question had been out of order.

Ginny saw the new ring flashing on her hand and grabbed for Granger's hand. "What's this?"

"We're engaged," she said with a pretty blush. "Ron asked me last month, and I said yes. We're getting married right after we finish Hogwarts."

"How nice," the younger girl said sincerely. "You two really _are_ perfect together."

"I asked her after I went to visit Trelawney to find out if she could See where you were," Ron explained. "She gave me some story about a phoenix coming with the wolf moon."

"That's Monday," Remus said softly. "It's the name of the January full moon."

"You mean that old bat was right?" he asked his former professor incredulously. "Crazy."

"Luna and I tried to use the Mirror of Erised, but it didn't show me anything," Harry confessed.

Ginny really looked at him for the first time since they'd been in the kitchen. "Oh, you didn't!"

She scooted closer to Remus to make space on the other side of her where Harry could sit. He pushed his way through the crowd to take the place beside her. She turned subtly away from Lupin to look more closely at Harry like she had never seen him before. She saw the handsome black haired and green eyed boy that she had loved for too many years.

"I missed you," she said as she reached for his hand and held tightly.

"We tried, Ginny. We tried to find you," he said with the despair evident in his voice.

"It's okay. I got myself back home. I'm no damsel in distress," she said with a charming and confident smile as she tilted her head to him.

As Harry lunged forward to hug her, Remus let out a sigh under his breath and got up from his seat to walk away from the teenage pair. He tried not to glower or give in to the inevitable jealousy as he thought that just a handful of hours before he had ravished her with kisses. He could not show any of these people what he felt, and he had to hold on to his mask tightly so none of them would see through it as easily as Jonathan had.

Lupin stood beside Shacklebolt and helped himself to a glass of the pumpkin juice that Molly had offered everyone. The specific talk about the shared escape seemed to break up as the people started talking in smaller groups. Ginny and Harry were in a close huddle while Ron and Hermione were showing off the ring to Tonks and Moody, who, other than Kingsley, had not previously known about the engagement.

"So are you going to take time off or get back to work for the Order?" Shacklebolt asked the werewolf.

"I need a few days," he replied. "Go back to the Black house and pack my things. I can still work from home. I just didn't want to before."

"You still haven't told me what you'll be doing about your condition for the full moon," Severus Snape said as he included himself in that smaller conversation.

"He's going to stay right here," Ginny shouted across the room.

"He's a full grown werewolf, Miss Weasley," Snape said before Molly or Arthur could give their opinions on the subject.

Ginny bounced up like a jack in the box toy popping open. Harry jerked up with her since they'd been holding hands when she did it.

To Professor Snape she said, "Yes, I know _exactly_ what he is. You don't! You have no idea."

She stormed out of the house with Harry trailing in her wake.

###

Ginny walked through the snow as easily as a hot torch cutting through metal. The cold substance didn't dare stay in her way as she walked by. Harry, on the other hand, did not have fire magic burning within him and struggled to put on his coat and shoes before going after her.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked as he readjusted his glasses.

"No," she said as she turned to face him.

"Do you want to talk?" he asked with that unsure look on his face.

She sighed and shook her head. "Not at all. I have a feeling people are going to want me to talk and ask me questions for a long time. You know what I really want to do? I want to fly. Do you want to take a broom up?"

"Yeah," he said with a lop-sided smile. "That would be good."

Together they walked to the broom shed, and Ginny let herself in first to select the brooms. She handed the equipment to Harry, and then they took to the sky. He looked at her again to see if she was cold, but she insisted she was fine.

"We had to find a new teammate while you were gone. It was just temporary, of course," he said as he kept the conversation to a safe area. "You'll get your position back when you come back to Hogwarts."

"That's assuming I go back. I _just_ got home. I need some time," she said. "I could even quit early. Fred and George did, and they're okay."

"You better not let Hermione hear you say that. She'll be scandalized," he said with a grin.

Ginny matched his smile. "She's a good witch, but one thing she can't do is fly."

She then showed him her flying skills by racing him across the sky. He sped up to catch her, but she did some evasive maneuvers that kept her out in front of him. Harry called after her that she had given him a defective broom, but he was laughing when he said it. When he got to where she was hovering, she sat there with a happy expression on her face, the kind of which he had not yet seen this evening.

"I was in a dungeon for two months, and I didn't see the sky during any of that time except through prison bars. Well, there was that first full moon. They used me as bait to get Remus," she said in the quiet way of remembrance. "I love the freedom of the open sky. And stars! Stars are beautiful."

"You're beautiful, Ginny. Don't get angry at me for saying this, but you're _especially_ beautiful, like it's not natural," Harry said. "Why is that?"

"Maybe it's just because you haven't seen me in a while," she said with a smirk as she hovered close to him. "But really... it's because the first thing he did to me before he did anything else was curse me with a non-scarification spell. Then no matter what he'd do to me afterward, I would still always look perfect. At least on the outside. I'm far from perfect on the inside."

"I understand," Harry agreed. "I mean, I don't know exactly what you went through, but I do know what it's like to be very not perfect on the inside."

"I know," she said on a sigh. "That's one of the things I love about you."

"Do you want to come down now? I was thinking I would go ask your parents if we could stay and go back to Hogwarts tomorrow," he said in reference to himself, Ron and Hermione.

"No, go on ahead. I want to fly some more. I'll lock everything up when I'm done," she said with an encouraging nod before he started to descend.

When she was alone in the sky, Ginny flew fleet and far, trying barrel rolls as she held on with her legs and one hand. With the other, she drew thin sheets of fire that dissipated like auroras as she did her circles through the night. Had anyone been watching her, he would have surely been amazed, but she had the moment to herself before the others knew of her great gift of fire.

###

After Ginny put the broom away and walked back into the house, the energy inside seemed quite subdued. Molly had promised to fix a big meal on the morrow to which they were all invited, and the trio had their rooms upstairs. It was Remus who was with the herd of Aurors that had the youngest Weasley daughter concerned.

"Where are you going?" she asked as she clutched at his forearm.

"Grimmauld Place," he answered with an unreadable face.

§But _why_?§ she asked him. §I want you to stay here.§

Aloud she said, "Mum? Dad? Can't Remus stay with us? He's welcome, isn't he?"

"I need to go pack my things," Lupin said to try to get out of the situation.

"Tonight? You have to pack _tonight_? Your things have been without you for two months. Another night won't hurt them," she said, getting close into his personal space. To her parents, she asked again, "Please can he stay?"

Arthur and Molly looked at their daughter and then to the werewolf who was trying not to show any emotions on his face. Mr. Weasley said to his wife, "Maybe she's attached to him. It can't hurt, can it?"

"Attached? You've obviously never been a young girl, Arthur Weasley," Molly hissed at her husband in a volume intended only for his ears.

Making the peace, the Weasley patriarch said, "You're welcome in our home, Remus. You know that. If it would be easier to help Ginny settle in, then please stay. But if you want to go to your own rooms, we understand and won't keep you."

Moony felt trapped as he considered the situation. Then he felt Ginny squeezing his hand encouragingly.

"And you can stay here until the full moon. I want you to," she said firmly so all who remained could hear it.

"We'll see," he said before stepping back and going to take residence on the sofa where Arthur had originally planned to sleep before their return.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter is from "Last One Standing" performed by Neil Finn on the album _Try Whistling This_.


	31. By the Light of the Wolf Moon

**CHAPTER 31:  
By the Light of the Wolf Moon**

_A muddle of nervous words  
Could never amount to betrayal  
The sentence is all my own  
The price is to watch it fail  
_~Neil Finn

Sunday in the Weasley house passed like an all day party that rivaled any of their previous events. Friends came from near and far to give Molly and Arthur their congratulations, and Ginny played the role of perfectly normal and polite daughter. It was one she found grating, but she kept the smile plastered firmly to her face as if she were Tonks in one of her disguises.

In the afternoon, Fred, George and Bill played against Ron, Ginny and Harry in a three on three person game of Quidditch that made for exciting watching. The spectators down below were shouting encouragements and making little wagers amongst themselves. They also chatted with each other so much, that Lupin was able to enjoy the passing of time with everyone.

"'Allo, Professeur," Fleur said to Remus as she sat down beside him. He had already been gone from teaching at Hogwarts when she had participated at the Tri-Wizard tournament, but it was a habit she had picked up from the younger members of the family.

"Mrs. Weasley," he said with a salute of his glass.

"I am 'appy you are back. It is good," she said at a loss for words. All her well-studied English seemed to flee her when she needed it. "You are important. A good man for a werewolf."

He laughed behind his glass. "I thank you for your high opinion. Some people may disagree with you."

"You are, and don't argue with me. I know certain things," she said. Then she stood and went to circulate with other family members.

###

When the day was over, the people dispersed and the Hogwarts crowd went back to the school. Ginny had begged the Headmaster and her head of house to wait before returning, and they were sympathetic to her need to readjust to normalcy. That left Molly, Arthur, Ginny and Remus alone together in the big house at the end of the day. She had insisted again that he had to stay until after the full moon, and she would argue at the smallest sign of hesitation from the adults.

He walked over to Molly and offered to help her dry the last of the dishes she was washing. "It's the least I can do."

She was uncharacteristically quiet, and he said after a while, "I can't stay, Molly. I know Ginny wants me here, but I feel I am taking advantage of the kindness you and Arthur have offered."

When she didn't say anything, he looked over and saw that Molly was crying as she was washing. While feminine tears were usually deadly, he had some educated guess that this was related to Ginny. "Thank you for bringing my daughter back, Remus."

"Oh, Molly, I think it's Ginny who brought _me_ back. When she's ready to talk to you, she's going to have an amazing surprise for you. She is an incredibly powerful witch, and that is only matched by her strength of character," he said, sounding proud of her.

"So you know this secret of hers?" Molly asked.

"I do, but it's not my secret to tell," he replied as he wiped more dishes dry. "This one, though, is not a bad one as far as secrets from our time away go. You'll be impressed with her, I think."

When the last dish was done, he excused himself to take a walk outside in the dark.

###

Remus had gotten a far pace down the road when Ginny came trotting up to him. With a worried tone, she asked him, "Where you just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

"Just taking a walk. How did you get outside without one of your parents raising the alarm? They're going to watch everything you say or do for a while. I can't say I blame them really," he said as he glanced at her.

"They're fine," she said. "I told them I was going to find you. They're waiting back home."

He stared at her for a long time. "You looked beautiful flying today. I could see happiness on your face radiating like sunbeams."

"That's what I do," she said as she took his hand to continue walking.

"I need to get going with things again. Work would be good. I'm not staying here to be a burden on your parents, though they are kind," he said.

"I can't change your mind?" she asked hopefully.

"On this, no," he said and looked at her, finally dressed and looking her age.

He didn't see the marionette princess Jonathan had made of her or the lover that she had been to him merely days before. As he looked at her, Remus was again reminded that she was only a teenager. Perhaps she had more magic and power than any other teenager he had ever known, but she was still so young with a life full of choices ahead of her. He was much too old to be in love with her no matter how much he itched to touch her and pull her into his arms again. He was ashamed to think that his life would be so much easier if he had no feelings for her whatsoever.

Ginny was not going through the same mental battle about the appropriateness of her feelings. Acting on her desire, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him in a way that would not be described by anyone as chaste or innocent.

"You shouldn't have done that," he rasped after pushing her away. "It wasn't a joke that werewolves get more… needy the closer we are to the full moon."

"I know," she agreed. "I was a werewolf once. It was enough to still feel the same pull of the moon that you do."

"That's convenient to know," he said as he struggled to get himself out of the situation. "I'm sorry, but I can't. Not at your parents' house."

###

When the two came back to the house, Arthur was sitting at the table with a serious expression on his face. "Sit down, Ginny. You, too, Remus. We need to have a talk."

Mr. Weasley's daughter did not look like she wanted to sit. She hadn't heard that tone of voice often since it was usually her mother who did most of the disciplining. When Arthur did it, though, that usually meant big trouble for her or her brothers.

"I don't know everything that happened to you while you were gone, but you've both left enough hints to let my imagination run wild. This is going to take a long time to work through, I'm afraid," he said. "Remus, I need you to go home. This is an issue for family to deal with. You are as close as family, but you aren't one of us."

"Dad!" Ginny exclaimed. "That's not a very nice thing to say, and I want him to stay here!"

"I know what you want, Gin, but you're not going to get it," her father said.

Lupin watched Mr. Weasley, "He's right. I need to go. It would be best for all of us, I think. Your parents need to get to know you again without someone lingering like a ghost nearby, and I can't live like that, either."

"I'm glad you see it my way, Remus," Arthur acknowledged.

Molly quietly reentered the kitchen and sat down beside her husband as the three were talking.

"We can't just throw him out!" Ginny said angrily. "He's our friend, and this is how we pay him back? He doesn't really have anywhere else to go this close to the full moon. The Black house is just a pit of despair that he hates, and his own house is probably falling to pieces. He has no one to care about him."

Though the words she said were true, Lupin's annoyance came out. "Thank you for making my life sound so positive."

Her heated stormy gaze turned on him, and had Remus been one of her brothers, Molly would have sworn the girl would have punched him. Their temperamental daughter was definitely in a mood where nothing was going to sway her opinion.

"Look, I know you think I'm being irrational, but _please_. The full moon is just tomorrow night, and then he can go," Ginny begged.

Arthur sighed, and then looked to his wife who seemed to be studying the two in front of them. After careful consideration, she nodded and said, "We can allow _one_ more day. Remus can help me tomorrow clean up the yard and the broom shed before moonrise. I won't hear of anything else on this subject."

"Thanks, mum!" Ginny said as she jumped up to hug her mother.

###

When Monday came, Molly was ready to aim a hex at Remus if he needed it. Arthur had gone to work at the Ministry and he wouldn't return until it was already night. Ginny tried to let her know it would all be fine, but her confidence was not shared by her mother.

"I mean no disrespect to Remus, but he _is_ a werewolf," Molly said as the time ticked away. She could swear she could see him visibly changing before her eyes, and she didn't know how Ginny could be so casual about it.

"I've already been with him for two full moons, mum. I know he won't hurt me," she explained.

"You make me sound like a neutered dog. I don't know if I like that, Gin," Moony said testily with that silver glint she loved shining in his eyes.

The girl laughed and flirtatiously slapped him on the shoulder, an act that was not missed by her mother. He tried to not look affected by it.

"I think helping you here will get me in the mindset of everything I have to do at my house. It's been abandoned for a while," he said as a change of subject. "Once I move out of Grimmauld Place, taking care of that is going to keep me busy for a long time."

That segue enabled Remus and Molly to have their own detailed conversation about home ownership and the responsibilities of repair and maintenance that went along with it. Ginny felt left out of that particular bit of good will, but she was happy that the two adults seemed to be getting along.

Molly was not oblivious to the conversations Ginny and Remus seemed to be having with each other without a spoken word. They seemed to have staring competitions at times with different expressions flying rapidly over their faces. It must have been what deafness might have felt like because Molly could tell there were volumes happening in only the body language.

At dusk, Mrs. Weasley was prepared to charm the broom shed closed so Remus could stay there over night. Ginny had already brought blankets out there if he'd need it and some water. The werewolf looked at it suspiciously as if this was some reference to a dog's water dish.

"You might get thirsty," she said, trying to sound reasonable. Then she got another idea that she tried to run past her mother. "Can't I just go for a walk with him out in the forest? I'm used to staying up nights now, so it wouldn't be a bother."

"Ginny, you _just_ got home," Molly stated firmly. "I can't have you going off 'for a walk' with a werewolf, even one we know, with the possibility of you being mauled or killed. Your father and I, and Remus, too, have been patient with your demands. Don't be so unreasonable for once!"

§She is right about that,§ Remus thought to her. §They have been more than accommodating, and I've had to keep my embarrassment in check. I don't like being used like a pawn, Ginny.§

The young witch wasn't sure who to address first but chose her mother. "I told you I'd be fine! I'm not afraid of werewolves. He can't harm me."

"That's what you say, but we don't _know_ that," Molly said with her arms folded across her chest.

"I agree with you, Molly" Remus said behind Ginny.

She whipped around with her wand drawn ready to hex him. §You _know_ you won't hurt me! My fire magic keeps you under control.§

He narrowed his eyes at her. §I'm not your pet to be kept in control, and your parents don't know about your special magic yet. You need to tell them soon, but not like this.§

Ginny raged out loud and stomped inside the house. "Fine, Mum! Put him in the broom shed for all I care."

###

When Molly came into the house in a few minutes later after securing Remus, the younger witch was in the living room, sitting on the sofa pouting. The fire had a crackling blaze to it that had not been there before.

"Everything is fine. We'll let him out in the morning," Molly announced.

"But I wanted to stay with him!" the younger witch said without having lost a single bit of her pout.

"Yes, that was very obvious," her mother sighed. "It's not unreasonable to have a crush on someone who used to be your teacher or someone who came to save you. Since he was both, I understand why you'd care, but he's a grown man, dear. You've got to let him go."

"I don't want to, Mum," she confessed with tears in her eyes. "And it's not just a crush!"

Rather than cry more in front of her mother, Ginny went up to her room to cry her hot tears by herself.

###

When the morning, Ginny woke up before her parents and let herself into the broom shed where Moony was still in his werewolf form. He had an eerie calm as he waited for sunrise, but his silver wolf eyes sparked in interest at her appearing. She spread out one of the blankets on the floor of the shed and sat down on it beside him. Then Ginny passed her hand over his furry appearance, and with a shimmer of light he shifted easily back to the naked Remus she so much liked to see.

He looked peacefully up at her as she asked him, "How do you feel?"

He rolled over from his stomach to his back and said in wonder, "No hangover."

"Yeah," she said happily and then stretched out to lie beside him. While they enjoyed the moment together, she grabbed another blanket to cover him instead of handing him his clothes, but he didn't seem to mind. Ginny blinked her eyes drowsily, and Remus rolled back over on his forearms to watch her fight sleep.

"Poor baby," he teased. "Can't stay awake with me, can you?"

"I can stay up all night with _you_, werewolf," she retorted in a sleepy but happy tone. "But I _might_ need a nap."

"I'd better tell you thank you for coming to wake me up," he said as he leaned over her to give her a lover's kiss. He had checked to make sure no one was watching them, so when she asked him to thank her again, he was only happy to oblige.

"I like that," she said as she reached under the blanket to put her hand on his bare chest.

She started to settle in as she had done on so many times lately, but Remus was feeling perverse. "You can't go to sleep!"

"How do you think you're going to keep me awake?" she asked mischievously.

"I have my ways, Miss Weasley!" he said impishly and then proceeded to tell her some absolutely absurd stories and made up histories of magic.

Ginny had remained curled into him and was laughing with the entertainment. Remus was getting detailed with it, including flailing his arms and using different voices. The two were having an uproariously good time, more than would be expected between such a pair the morning after a full moon as far as Arthur Weasley was concerned.

It felt like an intrusion of privacy to see them so thoroughly enjoying each other's company like they had not a care in the world. He thought he had seen something between them after they came through the Floo on Saturday evening, but he didn't want to acknowledge it, especially not after Remus had hinted of the types of torture Ginny had endured. The unguarded looks of love and acceptance between them as they lay like lovers was enough to make Arthur's world tilt on its axis. As a protective father, he didn't like the implications of this development one bit.

Instead of yelling at them or making the scene his boiling temper demanded he make, Arthur walked back a few paces and then made a whole lot of noise as he came toward them again. It was enough that Ginny looked over her shoulder to see him.

The smile she had for Remus still graced her face as she called out to him, "Morning, daddy!"

Ginny hadn't called him that since she was a very small girl, much like the same girl to whom he'd given that golden plug necklace. The memory hit him in the heart like an arrow.

"Come back to the house now. Your mother has breakfast waiting," he said as he bodily escorted his daughter out of the shed and gave Remus the privacy to get dressed.

###

Once they were all back at the house, Arthur made sure to let Remus know he had to leave immediately. He wasn't rude, but he was so steely that the werewolf knew not to linger.

"Why don't you come with me?" Weasley suggested as if he was offering a kindness. "We can travel to London together."

"Thank you. That's a good idea. I'll have to clean and send you back your robes later since I don't have anything else right now."

"Oh, that's fine," he answered because it was something to quickly move the process along and get Moony away from his daughter.

"Dad?" Ginny said in confusion as she jumped up from the table quickly.

"Tell him goodbye, Ginevra," he ordered.

She stared first at her father and then at Remus. She got little help from him other than the mental command to do what her father said. She didn't know whether to hug or shake his hand, so Ginny went in for a quick hug and released him awkwardly.

"Thank you, Molly," Lupin said as a last bit of manners to his hostess.

Then within seconds both Remus and Arthur were gone. Ginny fell into a chair and felt strangely empty inside because this was the first time she had been truly separate from the werewolf in the space of two full moons.

###

Remus didn't speak to Arthur on the way to London. He really had nothing to say to the man at this particular point. His thinly veiled aggression was something that Lupin had not often seen in the normally mild-mannered wizard. While he could accurately assume what had disturbed him, he didn't want to engage the man to find out for sure.

"This is where I get off," Lupin said at the turn he would take to go to Grimmauld Place. "Goodbye, Arthur."

He had given him one nod of acknowledgment, and walked down the crowded street until he got lost in the people. Weasley, he assumed, continued on to his work at the Ministry of Magic.

Moony let himself into the empty house, and it was as cold and uncaring as it had ever been. Perhaps it was more so because he was alone and ready to be free of this burden, too. Before he was truly free of it, though, he decided that he was going to steal a book from the library.

Remus spent nearly two hours looking through the dusty volumes, and while he was looking, he organized them again in a way that would have made Madame Pince proud. The Muggle art book did not seem to be anywhere in the library at all, and he was starting to get frustrated in the looking. No one else but him or Ginny would have cared two knuts about the thing! Then he remembered the last place had seen the book was in his room the night he had first made mental contact with Ginny.

He strode purposefully toward his room, which he had not yet visited. He slowly opened the door to see what was there inside. He had expected it to be just the way he left it in complete disarray. Instead, the bed was made, and his things were placed neatly around the room. Remus remembered that Tonks told him they thought he'd died, so in that light a made bed was not a horrible thing to find. He just had to make sure no one had disturbed his meager accumulation of other possessions.

After finding the precious volume, he sat on his bed until the nebulous time that could be considered late afternoon or early night. Then Alastor Moody came thumping to his door because he wanted to talk to the werewolf.

"Listen, boy, I want to know how you survived that Mansion's destruction," he said without making a pretense of civility. It was a quality that Lupin actually enjoyed most of the time.

"I told you before. I simply don't know. One moment some of that man's henchmen were beating the life out of me, and the next moment I am waking up on the ground far outside the mansion," he said.

"Are you protecting the girl?" Moody asked.

"Usually," Remus said wryly. "Do you have any specific accusations?"

"I need you to go back there with me and tell me what happened," Moody said.

"Well, Alastor, I don't see that as actually happening. I spent too much time there as it was. I would be fine if I never saw it again," Remus said.

"A destructive force went through there with such power that I am afraid for us, Lupin," he admitted. "I fear the day Voldemort finds that weapon and uses it against the magical world. There will be nothing left in its wake."

"Aren't you being the least bit dramatic, Moody?" he asked.

Shaking his head, he said, "You said you haven't seen it. You would know exactly what I mean if you did. That's why you must return with me."

"Not interested," he said and dismissed the Auror from his room.

Though the older man left, he made it clear that this would not be the last Remus heard of the topic. Inwardly, he thought he couldn't pack fast enough so he wouldn't have to be harassed by Moody's mission.

###

The seething anger that had been building in Arthur came to a boil on the Friday. He had watched his daughter in his home without the benefit of others around her, especially not Lupin, and she seemed subdued as if all the life had gone out of her. Mr. Weasley had tried to consider that it was a delayed reaction from the torture she had endured, but he couldn't take his anger out on Jonathan, who seemed to have disappeared from the world.

With those thoughts raging in his mind, Arthur went to Grimmauld Place after his work on Friday to give Remus an angry earful. Tonks had met him at the door and greeted him cheerily. That cheer changed to caution when she saw the storm that was brewing on Weasley's face.

"Is Remus here?" he asked her.

"Upstairs finishing his packing. He's moving out to his house tomorrow," she said.

"Good," Arthur said before taking the stairs. "He's still here."

When he got to Lupin's room, the door was open, and the werewolf was walking around inside. He had his things already in trunks, and he seemed to be putting the finishing touches on everything. Arthur also noticed his robes neatly cleaned and folded on top of one the trunks beside a book that had been wrapped in a ribbon.

"I heard you coming," Remus said, dispensing with the pretense of manners as he faced the older wizard. "What is it, Arthur?"

"You need to stay away from my daughter!" Weasley said, practically shaking from head to toe with the rage he was feeling.

Lupin did not comment right away. He tried to remind himself not to be pulled into the emotional game or the control he had would fall away with world record precision.

Finally, he said softly and slowly, "I _am_ away from your daughter. I have been here since Tuesday. I have not called by Floo, and I have not owled. I have not reached out to her at all since the morning you made sure I left. I have respected your wishes."

"Oh, you have, I'm sure, but Ginny pines for you! You don't see the sad looks on her face when she thinks we can't see her. She wants you, Remus," Arthur spat.

Lupin took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, "Are you sure you're seeing what you think you are? She'd been beaten and tortured since the beginning of November. Perhaps that is coming back to her now that she is free. While I am complimented that you think I am so important to her, I highly doubt that I am the source of _all_ her emotions."

"I know she loves you," he said as if it were a distasteful thing. "She certainly thinks she does, at least. But I don't know what you feel for her."

"Don't you? Why would you be here if you didn't think that on some level that emotion you so abhor was reciprocated?" Lupin asked as he sat on the lid of one of his trunks. "And in case I am not clear, do not come here asking me a question if you don't want to know the answer. I will not lie to you even if you really want me to."

Arthur wanted to continue raging at the werewolf, but his calm in the face of accusation helped bring him back down from the heights of anger. He realized, too, that he seemed to be fighting a losing battle with something that was quite possibly inevitable. The older wizard sat down on the one chair in the room and dropped his head forward as he rested his forearms across his knees.

"They hurt my baby," he started to say with his heart full of ache. "They took her away from me and hurt her!"

"Yes," Lupin agreed. "You can't fix it, Arthur. I know you want to, but it's a wound that will need time to heal."

With a more reasonable, almost quietly resigned voice, Mr. Weasley asked, "Do you love her, Remus? Tell me the truth."

He lifted up his head and glanced around the room of the former Black house before looking out the window to the distance. "I do. I'm sorry."

"I don't understand. How could you go from Sirius Black to my daughter?" he asked. "They are so completely different."

"I know what it looks like. Trust me, I do. But it's about hearts not parts," he said as a fleeting smile played across his face. "There's something else, though.

"Arthur, I didn't behave inappropriately toward Ginny while she was my student or while we were all here getting this house in order. I am not a sick bastard who takes advantage of young girls. You have got to know that. But I _did_ fall in love with her when we were both in hell. She was all I had, and she is an amazing human being."

Weasley finally sat up and leaned back in the chair. He studied the werewolf's face, but he didn't seem to be as filled with paternal rage as when he came into the room. So Remus just waited while Arthur finished his evaluation.

"I am not ready to invite you to family meals or announce you to the world as my son-in-law yet, Lupin," he said.

The werewolf was completely taken by surprise by the statement. He sputtered, "Son-in-law? What?"

It was Arthur's turn to look at the other man with mocking knowledge. "I saw you with her that morning. You were both… happy. It was unashamed and pure—quite the dangerous thing for a father to walk in on. Do you know, I don't think I'd ever seen you so simply happy before that moment?"

"We weren't _doing_ anything," Remus said defensively.

"Ah, but you were. You were sharing your nothing. I do that with my wife all the time," he said before he stood up. Closing his eyes, Arthur begged, "Don't take my little girl away from me yet, Remus. I still need time for her to be my girl and for me to be her father."

Silence grew between them before Lupin replied with surprise, "This conversation did not go where I expected it to go."

"Me, neither. I must be home to Molly," he said, excusing himself from Moony's room.

When he left, Arthur's robes and the wrapped Escher art book that was intended for Ginny were still sitting on the lid of Lupin's trunk.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter is from "Into Temptation," performed by Crowded House on the album _Temple of Low Men_.


	32. Knock Down Drag Out

**CHAPTER 32:  
Knock Down Drag Out**

_And the view when I look through my window  
Is an altarpiece I'm praying to  
For the living and the dead  
_~Neil Finn

When Remus came down the stairs of Grimmauld Place on Saturday morning, there were three sets of eyes staring at him. While it was certainly not the first time he had been in that situation, he hadn't done anything of which he was aware to have earned the looks. The talk with Arthur, while intense, had been confined to one room without other witnesses, and he had not discussed it with the three standing before him.

"So you're leaving us again," Kingsley said in his booming voice.

"Can't stay in one place too long, can you?" Tonks said, a teasing light twinkling in her eyes.

"This house won't be the same without you. More's the pity for us," Moody said as he looked around.

Lupin walked slowly closer, feeling very suspicious about their intent. "What are you doing?"

"We're giving you a present to take with you to your old house," Tonks said as she shoved forward something invisible. Moody tapped the top of the box with his wand, and then it appeared. Inside the box was a greenhouse starter kit with pieces of several plants that had herbal, medicinal and food uses.

Lupin's eyes widened in surprise. "This is a fantastic gift! Thank you so much!"

"We thought if you were setting up house again, you might need something. Didn't you say it has been a while since you've been there?" Kingsley said.

"Yes, it's true, so thank you," he repeated with appreciative awe.

"One more thing," Tonks said, and this time Shacklebolt did the honors to reveal an invisible plate of Lupin's favorite breakfast with nary a drop of porridge in sight.

The werewolf ate contentedly at the table with them, a sense of good will growing in his heart. As far as surprises went, that was a pretty good one. It was afterward that he got one he didn't enjoy quite as well.

"Remus, let Kingsley and Tonks take your things to your cottage for you. I wanted you to come with me before you leave the house for good," Moody said.

"Oh, okay," he said, erroneously thinking this might be a follow up to the nice breakfast. The quartet separated with two headed to Lupin Lodge and the other pair having a destination known only to Moody.

###

Because Moody didn't tell Lupin where they were going, they Apparated in the side by side way that is used for people first learning to do it. When they arrived, Remus was immediately possessed of a huge headache that made him stumble to his knees. Then he began coughing and couldn't catch his breath. The feeling of suffocation and despair wrapped around him as if to strangle all the life out of him.

He looked down at the ashes underneath him and then back up to Alastor. "Where have you taken me?"

County Durham," the old Auror said as he looked down at the werewolf. "We're at the scene of a mystery reported in the_ Quibbler_."

"You brought me back _here_? How could you? I expressly told you I didn't want to come here," Remus said, still fighting the headache and cough that had weakened him.

"I tricked you," Mad Eye said matter-of-factly. "You needed to see this, and you're already having a reaction to it."

"Do you mean the anger I feel about being tricked? I've already got plenty of that," he said as he tried to stand to his feet.

"No, boy. Your reaction to the fact that this land is dead and burned. Look around you, and look closely. There is no life here," he said.

Remus tried to focus his gaze and see the land. Moody must have brought him to the exact middle of it, because he could not see anything other than ash and dust for as far as his enhanced werewolf eyes could see.

"You said the man who held you had experimental magic. Did something blow up?" Moody persisted. "Did he do something to cause this?"

"No," Remus choked out as he looked around, turning in circles.

He walked around the area and there was nothing but deep unpacked dust and ash. On the fringes of the property, the snow that had fallen mixed with the ash, but in the center there was absolutely no snow that remained on the ground. Lupin looked back at Mad Eye with uncertainty.

"This can't be the place where I was. You _must_ have gotten it wrong," he said.

"No," he said and walked over to an uninteresting mound of material. "Arthur found Ginny's necklace here."

Remus put his hand out as if he were scared to touch it. "Is it hot to the touch?"

Crouching beside him, Moody handed over the spectrally enhanced glasses. "Look through these."

Lupin took them with shaky fingers and put them on his face. This time, similar to his wolf vision, he could see the heat of the land, and everything was still burning. Though it had all already been completely consumed, it still burned like nothing he had ever seen before, and he was right in the center of it.

"Frightening, isn't it?" the Auror said with a perverse appreciation in his voice. "No one wants to talk about this. It will be a dead zone for decades, and yet the others don't act worried that Voldemort will acquire this weapon. Constant vigilance!"

Moony stood up and handed Alastor his glasses. He tried to walk and inspect everything, even kicking up piles of the powdery remains. He still had his headache, cough and vaguely irritated eyes.

"It wasn't a weapon," Remus finally said. "It was vengeance."

"How can you say that?" Mad Eye asked.

"Because I know," he said slowly and paused as he remembered something from the Old Testament. "_And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts_."

That quote earned him a peculiar expression from the battle-scarred Auror who watched him even more intently than he already had been.

The werewolf looked pale and clammy and as if he was about to be sick. The memories of the night came flooding into him, barraging his senses. He swayed and fell again to the ground. He couldn't break free of the movie that played over and over again in his head.

Remus saw Jonathan's men hitting him with their fists and breaking skin and bones. He saw the look of terror in Ginny's beautiful brown eyes, and he watched Jonathan standing in front of him with his golden dagger before he plunged the weapon straight into his belly. Then everything became blacker than sleep or the darkest night of winter.

"What's wrong with you, boy?" Moody asked, though with less of his usual gruffness.

After he was able to pause the memory's mesmerizing hold, Remus looked hollowly up to Alastor's face, and then back out to the horizon in the far distance. "I died here."

The silence that filled the dead space eerily echoed his sentiment.

"Hmm," the other man murmured after several minutes. "It doesn't seem to have stuck."

###

After the confrontation in the remains of Jonathan's manor, Moony didn't remember how he got to his house where Tonks and Shacklebolt were waiting. They had tried to be good friends and put his things in the logical places so it would be a comfortable move, but they did not expect to see Lupin looking as limp as a ragdoll when he arrived with Alastor.

"What happened?" Tonks asked in concern.

Kingsley immediately put his arm around Remus and almost carried him all the way to his bed as if he were a child hanging on his back. He deposited the werewolf into the bed and covered him. Then he went to find Moody so he would know what happened.

"The boy had a shock," he said with deceptive simplicity.

Tonks crossed her arms in front of her chest in a no-nonsense fashion and narrowed her gaze at the grizzled old man. "Alastor…"

"He remembered some disturbing details of his captivity. He made me swear not to tell anyone, so I'm not," Moody replied. "But he tells me there was no magical weapon that destroyed the estate where he had been."

She shook her head in frustration at Moody. His great strength in being doggedly determined was also a pain in her backside. She stomped off to go check on Remus in the other room.

"Hey," she said kindly as she sat on the bed stroking Lupin's hair. It was funny to her that before he had been captured, some part of her would have wanted to do that for much different reasons. Now she wasn't interested in him and was just coming as a friend comforting a friend.

"You don't look so good, Remus," Tonks said. "Do you need one of us to stay, or do you want to go to St. Mungo's?"

"I want to be alone," he whispered as though it pained him to speak.

She patted him on the shoulder. "I'll come by and check on you later, okay?"

When Tonks returned to Kingsley and Alastor waiting in the living room, she shook her head sadly. They left Lupin alone with his malady.

###

On the rest of that Saturday and the start of Sunday, Ginny could feel that something was fundamentally wrong, though she didn't know what. She saw both her parents watching her with questions in their eyes but not on their lips. She felt on edge, and knew for certain that it had to be something with Remus. She had dared not reach out to his mind, but when she did try, his walls were up, firmly blocking her out.

Ginny found the dagger that she'd kept from their captivity, the one that had pierced him, and she knew she had to go to him no matter what her parents said. Gripping it firmly, she walked down the stairs from her bedroom to sun room where her parents were having a conversation.

"I need to go see Remus," she declared.

"Ginny, I don't think you should do that," her mother said sternly.

"There's something wrong with him, mum! I know it with everything in my being. I need to see him, but I don't know where his house is. I need your help, but I will go anyway, even if you don't help me," she said.

Molly started to object, but Arthur stilled her. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, dad, but he's not right," she said with all her worries showing in her eyes. "Please help me!"

Something in the sound of desperation in her plea let Arthur know this was more than teenage folly.

"I'll take you," he said grimly as he got up from his chair.

Molly was too curious to let them go alone, and she was prepared to help if it was necessary. The three Apparated away from The Burrow together to go to Lupin's small cottage.

###

Once the small contingent of the Weasley family arrived at the edge of Lupin's property, Ginny ran ahead of her parents to the door of the cottage and pounded on it with her fist.

"Remus! Remus are you in there?" she said and tried the door handle to let her inside. The door wasn't going to give, so she tried even louder. "Remus!"

A deadly low voice sounded from the other side of the door. "Go away, Ginny. Go home, and don't come back."

"The hell I will," she said sharply. "Either you let me in there, or you get your little werewolf ass out here!"

When he opened the door a small crack, he was shirtless in just a pair of trousers, and his face was murderous and dark. "I told you to go away. Why don't you go back home with your parents."

When she didn't budge or turn tail right away, he came out of his house looking human but snarling at her.

"What's _wrong_ with you!" Ginny demanded. "You look horrible."

"I think I look great for a dead man!" he said acidly.

She gasped, and the dagger in her hand immediately took on the rolling flame that she had learned to put around it.

"You lied to me, Ginny," he said as he started to circle her as if he was going to attack. "And you kept the dagger that killed me! How could you do that?"

Finding her own temper, she said, "I _didn't_ lie to you. We don't lie to each other. Ever. And you know that."

"I think you learned how to do it," he said cruelly. "In all the times I was ever with you with your mind wide open, you were protecting one very important detail, weren't you?"

"I was protecting _you_!" she said, shaking with anger from head to toe.

"_Sure_ you were," he said and dismissed her with an angry wave of his arm as he turned his back to her.

"Don't you _dare_ walk away from me, Remus Lupin!" Ginny ordered.

"Do something about it," he said, partially turning his face and showing that his eyes had taken on the glowing silver of his full werewolf change.

Ginny created a palm sized fireball in the air above her hand and threw it at Lupin dead center in the chest. She gave a human growl as she did it, only to be matched by his more animalistic werewolf growl. The noise in his chest rumbled as if he dared her to try hitting him again, so the young Weasley agreed by doing a spinning turn and launching two fireballs at him.

It was enough to knock Remus back, but he didn't lose his balance. He purposefully fell forward on his hands and hugged the ground low like a bull ready to charge a red flag. Not one to miss an opportunity, Ginny stomped her foot on the ground, and a rolling jet of fire went from there straight to Lupin's face.

He anticipated it coming, and then he dropped and quickly rolled to the side. Remus immediately started running toward her in his half crouched position and then jumped, transforming in mid-air to his wolf form. He fell awkwardly out of the human clothes he had been wearing, but the werewolf was not to be distracted from attacking Ginny.

She defended herself by putting the thin fiery Patronus-like shimmer around her, and then the Elemental witch turned again to do an offensive fire wave at the werewolf's body.

He ran through the wave without considering that he might get burned. Moony was too focused on his goal of knocking Ginny ass over teakettle to the ground. He bared his teeth like he was going to bite her, but she jumped back up yelling at him.

"You already did that once. I'm not a werewolf any more!" she spat disdainfully. "I guess your bite just isn't good enough."

Ginny threw another fireball at his center mass, but it seemed to fall off of Lupin like it was flour. The fact that he could so easily shake off her fire when she knew she had killed several men with it made her more furious than she already was. She tried to bring stronger fire to the fight and aimed it with all her spite at Remus.

He had learned to use fighting tactics while in his werewolf form, so he was not one to be outdone. He went to grab her calf, and she fell down to the ground. With her other foot, the red haired witch kicked him squarely in the face. He let out a whimper of pain and lunged for her again. Ginny had already gotten up from the ground and was running away.

The two continued to fight each other, matching fire magic with werewolf power. Any time one of them had an attack, the other had a counter attack so that it all seemed like an even draw. The anger between the two of them took a very long time to dissipate. The fight seemed to come to an end when the werewolf charged Ginny and knocked her down to the ground again. Once he had her there, he shimmered back into his human form, his pale backside for all the world, or at least Molly and Arthur, to see.

Ginny lay flat on her back looking up at the winter sky trying to get her thoughts under control. With the softest voice, she finally asked, "Is this why I could feel your pain all the way to The Burrow? You found out that you had died?"

"Why didn't you _tell_ me?" Remus asked her, his face near her shoulder and his voice sounding full of soul crushing ache.

"Because I didn't want to hurt you," she said as she turned her face toward his. "And I couldn't bear for you to be gone. I killed them, Remus. I killed them _all_ for doing what they did to you."

Ginny turned her face away from him again because she was ashamed to admit what had happened. It was her one perfect secret that she wasn't going to share, but that plan had come crashing down.

During the entire fight, Molly and Arthur had been prepared to aim hexes at the both Remus and Ginny if necessary. It was not an easy sight to see their daughter and the werewolf fighting each other in broad daylight with powerful magic neither understood. It was a parental instinct borne of experience that alerted the couple that sometimes people had to pound on each other until whatever was wrong worked its way out of their systems. It had happened too often when their boys were young for it to come as much of a surprise with their daughter.

In the end of it all, Ginny and Remus had not done any lasting damage to each other, though Lupin's yard was much worse for the wear. Once the coast was clear, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley walked up to the pair on the ground.

"I think we need to talk," Arthur said before throwing a blanket he had Summoned over Remus to cover his nudity. Meanwhile, Molly grabbed her daughter by her ear and marched her into Lupin's house.

###

The Weasley parents deposited the both of their charges on Lupin's little sofa. Then Molly went away to the kitchen with the pretense of civility to prepare some tea. She was almost surprised to see his cabinets so low of supplies, but it was true that he had only returned the day before.

Arthur, on the other hand, was standing in front of them and asked Lupin pointedly, "Would you like to put on some clothes, Remus?"

"No," he replied haughtily while wearing the blanket wrapped loosely around his hips. "_I'm_ fine. This is _my_ house, so if I want to sit around it naked, I can do that. Because it's my damned house!"

"I think I'll go help Molly while you find a better tone of voice," Mr. Weasley said. Both Remus and Ginny could hear the unsaid "young man" at the end of the statement.

"Why do I suddenly feel like Fred or George?" he groused once the other man had gone away.

"I'm used to it," Ginny grumbled quietly and darted looks at him. "You're going to have a big black eye."

"That was a good kick," he said in grudging admiration as he flexed his jaw.

"So… this is your house," she said while looking around it but not seeing it.

"Yep," he answered noncommittally. Then Remus dared look at her, and she had a split lip and a fair share of cuts and bruises. They both had snow and dirt grime all over them.

"I could use a bath about now," he said with a weary sigh.

"Oh, yeah," she agreed, "with lots of bubbles."

Arthur and Molly returned with a tea tray and sat it down on the table in front of the sofa. Then they brought two chairs over to sit in while they grilled the pair who had been fighting outside.

§Don't look her in the eyes, Remus. It's her secret power. She must be part gorgon,§ Ginny thought to him in reference to her mother.

His lip twitched as the thought entered his mind. It was kind of silly that the two of them were there being reprimanded like naughty children.

Arthur began the inquisitions. "Remus, when I saw you Friday, you were fine. You even professed your love of my daughter sitting beside you, but today you're trying to rip out her throat. I think we need an explanation."

Both Ginny and Molly had reacted with intense expressions of interest about Lupin's admission, but the men were not going to stop and examine that point.

"Alastor took me back to the ashes of the manor. He tricked me, of course." It took a long time before he could speak the next simple phrase to Molly and Arthur. "I died there, but I didn't remember it until he took me back there."

Mrs. Weasley asked the practical question, "Are you sure you died? You could have been mistaken, and you're right here right in front of me now…"

"No, mum. It's true," Ginny admitted as if doing so had wounded her dearly.

Arthur leaned forward to look at his daughter intently. "I have more questions for you soon, but we'll finish with Remus first."

"Could you always transform even daylight?" Molly asked him uncomfortably. "Can other werewolves do that, too?"

"The answer to both those questions is 'I don't know,'" he answered as he looked out from under his lowered brow. "I hadn't even tried until Ginny nagged me that I should."

"I did not nag!" she said indignantly, turning her body partly to him. "It was no more than you did to get me to practice my fire magic, oh wise teacher. Do you know how insufferable you are?"

"Oh, I think I've got a good idea," he said as he turned to give her a few looks as well.

Snapping his fingers in front of their faces, Arthur called out, "Children!"

That seemed to shut them up and annoy them at the same time, which pleased Mr. Weasley in a way. It was nothing less than they deserved.

Molly then charged forth. "The things that we know about you are that you can transform at any time and that you were dead. But now you're not. Did I get that right?"

"On the one," he confirmed. "But I don't know why or how I'm alive."

"Is that necessary?" Ginny asked him, as she clutched his arm. "You're here. Isn't that good enough?"

"Unless he was trying to off himself by fighting with you, his being alive is just something he's going to have to deal with right now," Arthur stated. "That leads us to you, Ginny. Did you get that fire magic because of something that evil man did to you?"

"Oh, no!" she replied with a mocking laugh that sounded relieved and comfortable for the first time that afternoon. "It was my magic the whole time. I'd been having fire accidents my whole life, but I didn't realize them as such until Remus helped me."

"Because you set me on fire!" he said with exasperation.

"But you didn't burn!" she said in self defense. Then the idea came to her, thinking of their fight just moments ago. "You didn't burn."

Quickly, Ginny reached out and latched her hand on Remus's forearm and made fire appear on both her arm and his. Neither one of them was burned or consumed by the fire, and Lupin gaped at her in realization. When she moved their arms closer to the blanket, it started to singe, so Ginny took the fire completely away.

"I can't hurt you!" she said happily with eyes shining up at him.

"Not with your fire magic, no," he said, flexing his jaw again and giving her a dark look.

"This is fantastic! You can't hurt me, either, can you?" she asked as she looked at him as though he were a new creature.

"It's certainly not because of a lack of trying," he confessed as he rubbed his jaw. "There _was_ that first time, but I'll consider myself lucky that I bit you then."

"Remus, you _bit_ my daughter?" Molly shouted when she heard that.

"Molly, I am a werewolf, and yes, I did! But it didn't take," he said as he pointed to Ginny.

"I'm fire powered on the inside," the young witch explained smugly, "and now Remus is, too."

Arthur wiped his hand over his face and groaned. "I think I am going to need something a little stronger than tea."

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric quote for this chapter comes from "Locked Out," performed by Crowded House on the album _Together Alone_.

The specific Bible verse quoted by Remus is Malachi 4:3.

I also confess I was channeling a bit of Stiles and Derek from _Teen Wolf_ with the whole "get your little werewolf ass out here" bit. Yeah...


	33. A Temporary Courtship

**CHAPTER 33:  
A Temporary Courtship**

_Stop, I confess sometimes  
I don't know where I'm going  
Part of me stays with you  
_~Neil Finn

Remus used that pause as the time to take his leave. "Excuse me. I'm going to get dressed. I have visitors in my damned house."

Ginny laughed at his cheeky and biting humor, which was particularly strong when his eyes were flashing wolf silver. Arthur used the time Lupin was gone to ask his daughter a very important question.

"Did you start the fire that destroyed that mansion? I need to hear it from you," he said.

Instead of speaking, she nodded quickly, afraid of the words that would spill out her mouth if she opened it.

Molly took a deep breath and looked to the side at her husband before she asked Ginny her own question. "Did you do it because of Remus?"

"You don't know what they did to me," she whispered gravely. "Just because you can't see the scars on the outside of me doesn't mean I wasn't beaten and tortured every single day. Jonathan put a spell on me so I won't scar again. Not on the outside anyway. All my scars get to live in here." Ginny tapped on her temple for emphasis.

"I _had_ to get out, but they killed him right in front of me and made me watch while they did it. When the life drained from his eyes, I swore that none of them was _ever_ going to live ever again. And then I killed every. Single. One of them," Ginny said in a distant voice that somehow made it easier to recount her sins.

The young witch sat back on Lupin's sofa appearing shriveled and small because she could not be sure her parents would still love her once they'd realized the full extent of what she had done. She wasn't even the same girl who had survived the Chamber of Secrets because all the deaths with Moss Manor had been a choice based on her own rage.

Arthur spoke up and told her slowly, "They were evil men who did evil things to you. It was self defense. You can't be blamed for it, sweetheart."

"Believe him, Ginny," Remus said as he quietly reentered the room, this time fully clothed in wizard's robes.

He walked over to one of his cupboards and pulled out four fine glasses. Into each, he poured from a special bottle that he had saved. As he brought it to the living area he explained that it had been a gift form Sirius a long time ago.

"He told me to use it on a special occasion. If this isn't special, it's certainly unique," he said as he handed a glass to each of them.

Ginny wasn't very impressed with it, but her tastes ran differently than the adults. Arthur, on the other hand, liked it rather much and started talking about it with him. That led the men to other comfortable realms of conversation, which was a relief after the revealing events and conversations of the day.

Once they were done much later, Molly said, "I think we had better go home, Remus. This has been a particularly eventful afternoon for all of us."

They stood up, but Ginny said, "I want to see your property. It is my first time here."

"You mean you want to see the things you haven't destroyed yet?" he teased, making sure she understood it was a gentle jab about the fight they had today. Then he acquiesced to playing host. "It's modest, but it's mine."

He walked outside with Ginny and her parents trailing behind them. When she asked him to see his property line, he was dubious but willing. So he walked her around the farthest perimeter of land that was still his. She put her arm through his as if they were lovers taking a gentle Sunday stroll, which could almost be true given that it was Sunday. At the same time, she gently waved her hand in the air beside her.

Remus looked down at their entwined arms and then back at Arthur and Molly who were following at a relatively close distance. He thought to himself that he felt like a boy being chaperoned for his first date.

§Maybe you are,§ Ginny teased him with a grin while still keeping her palm open to the air as they passed.

"What are you doing?" he asked aloud of her hand motion.

"Someone told me fire has a dichotomy of destruction and rebirth," she said philosophically. "If I can burn down a mansion, maybe I can do something to help you."

"I think you already did," he said. "I'm alive, and you brought me back. What other explanation is there?"

She smiled with a blush prettily lighting her cheeks. "I'm doing something else then. If it works, you'll see."

Later in the quiet, she asked him mind to mind, §You really told my father you loved me?§

§I did. It was an interesting conversation,§ he replied without giving more details.

§Maybe there's hope for us yet,§ she thought optimistically, and he, too, considered that it was just quite possible.

Once they had made the complete circle of the property line and the sun was low in the winter sky, Remus had asked Ginny to show him what she had been doing on their chaperoned walk.

"Just this," she said with dramatic flair as she spread her arms gently out to the side like an orchestra conductor with the penultimate beat.

Ginny threw a spark into the united fire ward that she had created. In the fading sunlight, the ribbon of fire lit up in its entirety, showing all colors of the spectrum. It encircled the entire property in the route they had taken and seemed to shimmer from ground to sky.

"It will keep you safe," she told him as she took both his hands in hers. "That way when you are here, you are always protected by my fire."

He smiled down at her in appreciation of her brave and loving heart. Had not her parents been witnesses, Remus might have taken her in his arms and tried kissing her silly once more. Instead of doing that, he said, "Thank you."

"I can do it again whenever I come to visit. I think I could make the magic stronger," she spoke out loud. In her own mind and not shared with him, she had the thought that their children would need that luxury so they could be happy at home no matter what happened in the far flung world.

"There will be no 'visits' without rules," Molly was quick to say. "We'll discuss that at home. Thank you, Remus. This was interesting."

"To say the least," agreed Arthur. "We will be discussing everything later. We have to let Albus know the real extent of your new magics."

"Of course," Lupin replied as that was the only acceptable answer. Then he waved to the family as they Apparated back to The Burrow.

###

That night Charlie gave his family a Floo call from Romania.

"I'm so sorry it's taken me so long, Ginny!" he apologized. "Living conditions here are rough, so I can't always get to a Floo. I would have come home right away when I found out you'd gotten back, but I couldn't get away."

Ginny smiled at him. "I wish you would have been here, Charlie. But you'll be back for Ron's wedding, right?"

He laughed. "I can't believe my little brother is getting married!"

"I know! But she really is perfect for him. Some things are meant to be, you know?" she said with a smile.

"Like you and Harry, right?" he said with brotherly affection.

Ginny looked uncomfortably back at him. "Well, I've only been back a week. Harry and I haven't talked much since he's at Hogwarts."

Somberly, he asked her, "Are you okay, Gin?"

She answered him back truthfully. "Sometimes I'm great, most of the time, even. And then there are times I'm not. I might have to go back to Hogwarts again soon. At least then I can be distracted by other people instead of just thinking of myself all the time."

After that, Ginny got up from the Floo and let her parents talk to their dragon taming son. He talked again how busy and understaffed he was at the camp right now, and Arthur in particular gave him sympathy. He returned to work after that since he was right about the busy state of everything around him.

###

During the rest of the time in January, Ginny begged for and received permission to visit Remus at his home three more times. All the visits were chaperoned affairs with Molly making sure they were behaving with the appropriate and non-touching politeness. The only thing she couldn't make Ginny give up was the walk about the property where she would reinforce the fire wards that she had put there.

As the pair walked together talking about whatever was on their minds, they were always hand in hand or arm and arm. It was actually rather old fashioned and sweet, but it was tiresome for Molly to drag along behind them like a third wheel on a date, which she strangely was. She also overheard much more about Remus than she expected. Mrs. Weasley realized that while she had already liked the man, she hadn't known him very well.

"I won't be with you in February, so I have to do the best I can," Ginny said to Lupin after she finished the ward on the last visit. "I'm headed back to Hogwarts. I think I'll actually enjoy it. It will be nice to see my friends and feel like a normal girl."

"So you're not going to tell them you're now the Fire Witch," he said with a proud look.

"You say that like I have a reputation," she said with a shake of her head.

"You could get one," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. "You should be careful of the company you keep."

"Of course. I think I'll be keeping most of my company with the librarian. I have three months of classes to make up," she said. "But you know, I think I'll actually enjoy it. Please don't tell Hermione. She would never let me live that down."

"On my honor!" he said, holding up his hand as if swearing an oath.

Ginny laughed, and he reached to put one of her wild tresses behind her ear. Mrs. Weasley, who was watching, sighed deeply. She decided to allow them to have one very short moment of privacy.

"I think I'm going into the house," Molly said loudly and then used some flimsy excuse that they weren't paying attention to anyway.

"Thanks, mum," Ginny said, but not loud enough to carry. Once her mother was gone, she told Remus, "They're uncomfortable with the idea of us, but they're trying. In some ways, I think they're taking it better than I had originally expected. I think they don't like the idea of me…"

He rolled his eyes in understanding. "No one likes to think of other people that way. Do you like knowing your parents enjoy each others' company? Obviously they do since there are seven of you."

"No!" she said with a laugh as a shudder passed through her.

"And our children won't like to think of us that way," he said as mischief sparkled in his eyes. "Wolfgang, was it?"

Ginny laughed nervously. "Yeah. Yes. I didn't think you'd remember that."

"I almost didn't. It took me a while to put the memories together. That poor boy," he said, teasing her about her name choice.

"You can name the next one," she said and looked at him smartly as if she was peering over imaginary spectacles.

"Deal," he said before putting his hand on her waist and pulling her close to him. "I think your mum won't wait long, and I'd really like to give you a goodbye kiss before you go back to school. Can you blame a werewolf?"

"Staking your claim so I don't get any ideas about the other boys?" she teased.

"You could…" he admitted with his mouth in a worried line.

"I don't think so, Remus. I cast my lot with you, but you'd better kiss me to seal the deal," she said.

Lupin turned his back to the house to use it as a block if Molly did come outside to see them. Then he held tight to Ginny's waist with the hand that was there and used the other hand to turn her face so her mouth and his would meld. He kissed her softly and gently at first because he enjoyed the simple pleasure of doing just that. Then he kissed her more passionately as if to impart all the love that he'd wish her to have until he saw her again.

He eventually let her go and they reluctantly went back to his house. Ginny was both blushing and grinning like an idiot when they retrieved Molly.

"One daughter, safe and sound," he said as he handed her over to the other witch.

"Remus, if I write you letters, will you write me back?" Ginny asked shyly. "It might be nice."

He didn't know why it was an unexpected request, but it was. He was hesitant because he remembered the copious love letters the girls in his year carried around like talismans. He was already seeing as a potential source of embarrassment, but then Remus looked at her face.

"Try it and see," he said.

###

Ginny returned to school at Hogwarts at the beginning of February. Though the halls were familiar, she walked through them looking at everything as if she was a fresh faced first year student. It was as if everything had become new, and it was a little daunting. All the students ran to and fro, and she still had to get settled in.

One of the first places Ginny had to stop was McGonagall's office to discuss her spring schedule of classes and activities.

"Miss Weasley, as much as this pains me, I believe you will have too many assignments to have time for anything other than classes. I must, therefore, bench you from the house Quidditch team," she said with a great sigh.

"But Professor! You know I love to fly. It's one of the few things I actually like to do, and if I can't at least be happy about something, then all my other school work will suffer," she said in what she hoped was a reasonable voice.

"Ginny, at no fault of your own, you missed three months of work. Even the best students would have trouble with that," she said.

"What about giving me a dispensation for a time turner?" she asked, remembering that Hermione had one in a previous year.

"I can't do that," she said. "I know what you're thinking, and the third year classes that Miss Granger had are a completely different workload from the classes a sixth year student like you has to take. I must insist."

Ginny stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "You can't stop me from showing up to practice. The house teams have spectators all the time. So if I happen to know the plays and be ready just in case, we'll consider that a happy accident."

Professor McGonagall took her glasses off and rubbed at the headache that was starting to form right between her eyes. "Okay, Miss Weasley. You have made your argument. You can be on the team, but don't make either one of us regret it."

"Thank you," she said brightly before bouncing out of her office to the next appointment.

###

Ginny waited outside Professor Dumbledore's office as the portraits studied her. A few were gossiping, but most of them were sleeping. When the door opened, she walked in to the sound of phoenix song as Fawkes was on his perch and displayed his full colors to her.

"Hello," she said with a smile and walked closer to him. "How are you, beautiful one?"

He crooned at her, and under her stroking hands his plumes started to burn. Neither of them seemed to find this unusual, but Albus Dumbledore studied it.

"Miss Weasley, I see you've made yourself known to my friend. I think that is a great thing. Let's talk about your magic, shall we?" he asked rhetorically as he gestured for her to sit in the chair in front of his desk.

"Your father and Mr. Lupin have both given me the basic sketches of information about your fire magic," he said as he took his own seat behind the desk.

"That was really nice of them to do that without me present," she said with pleasingly disguised sarcasm.

"Remus understandably respects your magic," he said as if she had not made the pointed barb. "He praises your precision and control. In fact, he went so far as to say that your skill with it may only be reached by the limits of your imagination. That is rather high praise from a wizard such as him, though he may have a small bias in your favor."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively, not quite sure what he could be alluding to.

Steepling his fingers before he spoke, Dumbledore explained, "It seems your fire magic saved him. I'm sure he feels indebted to you."

"I see," she said, thinking that Moony's feelings for her were more than gratitude.

"The thing that I want to know is whether or not you can control your magic or if the magic controls you," he said. "As it happens with too much power, sometimes it can be too much to use effectively or accurately. The burn that you created at the former Moss Manor was magnificent and terrifying. Alastor Moody, of all people, fears you because of it, and that is quite an achievement."

"Professor, that was rage. I am still angry because of all Jonathan made me endure. Do you blame me?" she asked with a sharp tone.

"No, I understand, but as the Headmaster I do have to ensure the safety of the students in this school. Sometimes that will be you, and then at other times, I will be concerned with the safety for the other students. I wouldn't want you to get into an altercation with one of your rivals and have that student end up in the hospital wing," he said.

"Do you really think I would do that?" she asked, offended.

"I think a great power should be used wisely," he said lightly. "I also think it should also be developed to its fullest potential. You, Fawkes and I will have private lessons every Sunday beginning now. If you are asked why you are seeing me, I think it would be prudent to keep your privacy. I would suggest you tell them that you are receiving extra tutelage because of the time you were gone."

"Yes, sir," Ginny answered.

Professor Dumbledore waved his wand around the room and cast a flame retardant charm on everything so that the witch could remain in the room while she practiced with him. Because he had not seen an active demonstration of her fire before, she showed him all the things she was confident that she could do. That included various types of fireballs, flame waves and shields. When she was done, she looked at him with her pride all over her face.

"Well done, Miss Weasley!" he said. "I believe I am going to enjoy learning this magic with you. It is a rare treat to find any Elemental magic. It is never this strong when it does happen."

"You mean you've seen it before? I'm not the only one?" she asked excitedly.

"In our lifetime, you have the most well-developed fire magic that I have yet to see. I do not say this to make you feel arrogant. You must still respect the magic that lives in you," he said. "The others who may have Elemental magic are not aware of it because, as you had discovered, their affinities are not encouraged. Maybe we can learn to change that."

"I would like that," Ginny said with a huge smile.

"Very good. Now I have a question for you. If you can start fires with your mind, can you also put them out?" he asked with the twinkle in his eye.

"Well, let's just find out!" she replied, suddenly very happy to have this private lesson in her life.

###

Ginny's return caused much talk and gossip as she joined her classmates at her house table. Some of the people around her were shocked to see her. Others were less tactful about her reappearance.

"Did you have fun with your beauty vacation?" Pansy Parkinson asked as she saw her near the Great Hall.

"What are you talking about?" Weasley asked with chagrin. The seventh year Slytherin girl had little reason to want to seek her out.

"Your skin and hair look particularly beautiful, I hate to admit. You were so hideous before. So what did you do?" she asked.

"I sacrificed the blood of seventeen virgins," Ginny said as a random retort. "That's why I was gone so long. Took me a long time to find them. Maybe I was looking in the wrong house."

Weasley realized it was a stupid thing to say, but she just enjoyed pushing Parkinson's buttons. It worked effectively enough to make the girl walk away in a huff back to Draco Malfoy. When Ginny saw him looking in her direction, too, she gave him a saucy finger wave. Draco and his cronies noticed the wave and started making boisterous noise about it, so she added a cheeky wink at them before going to the Gryffindor house table.

When she sat down, several of her Quidditch teammates gathered around her and were talking excitedly about her return.

"Harry told us you were back!" Kyle said. "Will you be playing?"

"Yes," she answered with a lop-sided grin. "McGonagall almost didn't let me, but I can be convincing when I want to be."

Dina Hughes sat on Ginny's side and started prodding her skin and stroking her hair. "Parkinson was right. You _are_ beautiful."

"Well, thanks," Weasley replied tartly. It didn't have to sound like such a surprise to her.

"But it's different. How did this happen?" she asked. "Is it anything the rest of us girls can get, too? It's like having a veela make over almost."

"Do you remember that man from the newspaper article way back last fall when I got my broom? You know, the pretty one called Jonathan Moss. He did this to me before he tortured me for two months straight. I don't actually think that's a fair trade. Do you?" she asked rhetorically.

Dina put her hand down in embarrassment as tears sprung to her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. You were gone, and now you're back."

"Well, now you _do_ know," Ginny said, surprised that the grapevine of gossip hadn't included those details. Perhaps she was lucky they hadn't, but the verdict was still out.

###

Later in the Gryffindor common room Ginny was trying to get caught up on some of the assignments that she had gotten from the other students in her year. She was writing so much that she was developing a cramp in her hand. As she was shaking it out, she was ambushed by Ron, Hermione and Harry.

"We're so glad to see you!" Granger said first, rushing forward to give her a hug.

Ron acted the tough older brother. He hugged her, but he laconically said nothing while doing it. He looked happy to see her again, though.

Harry hugged her last, and he pressed his full body to her. He was whispering in her ear and groping at her hair in his excitement. After so recently visiting Remus, Ginny had a small fit of panic at all Potter's familiar touches. Of course he wouldn't know about what had happened. She hadn't told him, and she doubted her parents were telling much of the world.

Ginny shoved the over eager Harry off her with an apology. "I'm sorry. I'm still a little touchy after… after all that."

"Oh, okay," he said his green eyes looking at her with curiosity and worry. "But I am still happy to have you back."

"I'm glad to be here, but I better get back to my work," she said as she pointed to the parchment. "I'm going to be busy for a very long time."

"Let me know if you need any help," Hermione offered.

"How come she gets help?" Ron asked in his teasing way.

"Because when she asks for help, my love, it is my _help_ she wants and not me doing her work for her," the witch replied as she batted her eyes at her fiancé.

"It's nice to know some things don't change," Ginny laughed before taking up her work again.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter is from "One Step Ahead," performed by Split Enz on the album _Corroboree_ (Australia), known as _Waiataa_ in the rest of the world.


	34. Pulled in Many Directions

**CHAPTER 34:  
Pulled in Many Directions**

_Friends come 'round.  
You might remember and be sad.  
Behind their eyes is unfamiliar  
_~Neil Finn

Ginny's first full week of classes came and went with her feeling trampled by a herd of centaurs when it was done. She had her regular classes with the current assignments, and then she had the list of assignments for the three months previous. For several of her classes, she needed to have completed the previous work first to understand where the class was at now. It made her feel like she was hanging on by her fingernails.

Then she had participated in the Quidditch training that was as grueling as it had ever been. Harry was a good captain, and she loved his work ethic. When she started to complain about the game, she reminded herself that she had begged McGonagall to let her play. So she kept her peace because even when it was full of effort, playing Quidditch was still worth it for the joy she got from it.

She had been able to put Harry off because she could claim being busy, which was true enough, but he began to watch her curiously. When she seemed jumpy or not as touchy around other students, he chalked it up to her torture experience. He just wished he could do something to help her. He had no idea what, but he tried to be a good boyfriend to her since that's what he still considered himself to be.

Ginny knew she was really going to have to talk to him about things with Remus, but she wasn't sure how to do it. She hadn't stopped loving Harry, and since it took her so long for him to really notice her as more than Ron's little sister, it was gratifying that he still cared. It was easy to say her head and heart were full of stress and confusion now that she was back in a familiar situation as a changed person.

She was distracted from those thoughts during that Saturday's lunch when the late owl post brought various letters and packets. An unrecognizable owl came right to her and dropped a wrapped book right in Ginny's lap.

Her eyes shot up because she hadn't been expecting anything out of the ordinary. The book was wrapped in a fancy handkerchief with the initials RJL ornately embroidered on the corner. Ginny smiled wide at the discovery. That object alone would have been plenty to please her, but she wanted to know what was inside.

Before she opened it up, she took the time to read the short note that was attached to the outside of it.

_Took this from 12GP when I left. Wanted to give it to you, but kept forgetting. Hope it brings you a smile and the thought of me. –R_

Ginny clutched the note to her chest and felt like she was about to burst from simple happiness. Unfortunately, right after that Harry and Ron noticed her beaming uncontrollably. It was her brother who started with the questions.

"So what did you get?" he asked.

"It's just a Muggle book," she answered, and that was true. But it was also a Muggle book from Remus. It made her feel loved from head to toe.

"Yeah…" he responded dubiously. "Are you secretly turning into Hermione? She's the only one I know who would be so happy with a book."

"Hey, now! That's your fiancée. You better be nice because you'll be spending the rest of your life with her," Ginny chastised.

"I know," Ron said, sounding rather satisfied with the whole situation.

"May I look at the book?" Harry asked.

She looked down at it unsurely. If Remus had put any notes inside the book, she didn't want him to accidentally come across them. "Um… is it okay if I show you later?"

Ginny then got up from the table to make sure the book sharing would definitely be later rather than sooner. She scurried away with some excuse about having to study some more and get back to her assignments.

Harry sighed as he watched her go. He could feel that something wasn't adding up, but he just couldn't figure out what that was.

###

On Sunday Ginny had her second lesson with Albus Dumbledore, though by the end of it he admitted that he was learning as much about fire magic, if not more, than she was.

"It's one of the great benefits of teaching," he philosophized for her. "There are many times the teacher learns more than the students."

When she asked if she could go outside and practice her Elemental fires, he strongly suggested against it because he wanted to be sure she had precision skills from working inside before feats of size and scale were involved.

"Sometimes you'll want to be subtle, and sometimes you'll want to destroy everything in your path," he said.

"I've done both," she admitted wryly.

"Valentine's Day is coming up next Saturday, though before that we will be having a full moon. It seems like the blood will be running high no matter which way one's affections lead. Wouldn't that be right, Miss Weasley?" he asked in that unaffected all-knowing way he had.

Since he was obviously waiting for a response, Ginny mumbled an agreement.

"Be careful in whatever you do because hearts are easily broken," he counseled.

Dumbledore might have been trying to help, but she found it bothersome. Instead of making her feel confident in her choices, such words were almost planting seeds of doubt in her mind. So it was with some relief that she was able to leave when the lesson was over.

###

Luna Lovegood came running up to Ginny while she was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, and she had Colin Creevey and David Thompkins with her. Ginny hadn't seen that particular trio together since before Jonathan had captured her

"Smile, Ginny!" Colin said agreeably before snapping a photo of her anyway.

"We'd obviously like to write about you in the paper. I think it would be a great personal interest story," Luna said. "We have a whole list of interview questions."

"David's articles are pretty good, but I don't know if I want to tell everyone about me. I'm still… shy," she demurred.

Lovegood frowned and still managed to look dreamy as she did it. "I have known you my whole life, Ginny. You don't know the meaning of shy."

Colin sat with his camera curled in front of him. "It's true. You've always been one of the most confident people I know. It would be interesting to hear your story."

"And you can stop the rumors that are going around," David said with his quill ready to write.

"What kinds of rumors are there?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing that we want to repeat," Luna soothed. "That's why we want the real answers from you. I have a question before we start. It's off the record, though. Did you see any unusual animals while you were gone? My daddy wrote about a fire beast in his newspaper, and I wanted to know if it was real."

Ginny couldn't really tell her friend that she saw the fire beast every time she looked in the mirror, so she said softly, "That was real, but please don't ask details about it yet."

For the moment, the younger Lovegood look satisfied in knowing her father had another success in journalism, even if the rest of the Wizarding world didn't see it.

###

It might have been Dumbledore's power of suggestion, but after Sunday had come and gone, Ginny noticed couples all over the school kissing and groping each other as if a sex bomb had been dropped over the whole student populace. This made her decidedly uncomfortable, especially when Harry gave her questioning looks. She would look away from him blushing, and Ron said that it reminded him of when she had first had a crush on his best friend.

That observation, however false, was enough to help things run more smoothly between them until Wednesday morning came. The full moon would rise that night, and this would be the first full moon she had without Remus since she had been turned, however briefly, into a werewolf herself. She felt very strange and out of sorts in the way that her lycanthropic libido had nowhere to express itself. She should have asked Lupin if it was always this intense, but Ginny thought that it was too late now.

It all came to a head that night once the moon had risen. Several couples were kissing and groping in the common room, and Ginny felt the need to get out of there quickly. Harry followed her to ask her a question. She vaguely heard an invitation to Hogsmeade for Saturday after Quidditch practice if she could make it. He also might have expressed concern about how she would feel in Hogsmeade since the last time she was there with him was the day of her capture.

Ginny Weasley wasn't listening to any of the things he was saying. Instead, she was staring at his mouth as he spoke, and she remembered all the times over the years that she'd wanted him to notice her or kiss her. Then she was remembering his kisses and how she had so enjoyed them once she had finally gotten them. She whimpered with the fight because she knew she could have the boy. She could just reach out and devour him.

Some darker wolfish instinct within her took over, and she pulled Potter to her and kissed him so fervently that he actually had to push her away. He took his glasses off his face so they would not be crushed or in the way. Then Harry dove in and returned her kisses with everything he had. He had missed her too much when she was gone and feared she wouldn't return.

"Is anyone in your room?" she whispered as if she was in pain.

"Let's find out," she said as they stumbled up to the seventh year boys' rooms.

Once they got there, they tumbled into Harry's bed, and Ginny made sure he charmed his bed curtains closed and did a silencing spell so their activity would not be observed by any of the boys who shared the room, especially not her older brother Ron. With that successfully done, she quickly got Potter out of his robes as if it was a mania she had to do.

Ginny started kissing and touching Harry while using the techniques she had learned from her werewolf other half. The boy, unaware of this, was both frightened and excited by her sexual aggression. In his enthusiasm, he had almost ejaculated before they both could enjoy his erection. She took control and climbed on top of him, and then Ginny started moving her hips with the intensity of a fevered dancer until she had wrung him dry.

Harry came up off the bed with a gasp before falling back down in a daze. He stared up in wonder to the top of his canopy while Ginny got off of him and lay on the bed beside him while staring out into the darkness in increasing horror at what she had just done.

It had been so quick and easy. It was sex with a very willing partner. It definitely had its own charms, but it wasn't the mind-melding and often earth-shattering love making that she had shared with Remus. That same Remus was out tonight under the full moon's light without her and didn't know of her physical betrayal.

As tears filled her eyes, Harry looked at her askance. "It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"No, it was good! I just… I've got to go. Can't be too long in the boys' dorm, or people will get suspicious, right?" she said as she got out of the bed and started to back out of the room.

"So you'll join me after practice on Saturday?" he asked, his black messy hair even worse after sex and his beautiful green eyes shining luminously.

"Yeah, sure, Harry," she said as she got on the other side of the door and slammed it shut.

Ginny ran to the girls' dorms to bathe and scrub off the sick feeling of guilt that had come to nest inside her.

###

The rest of the week leading up to Valentine's Day passed much too quickly for Ginny. The sex bomb that had exploded around her seemed to get worse, and even if it hadn't, it still felt like guilt and recrimination. Harry was blissfully holding her hand or dropping kisses and giving hints like anvils that he would like to try doing more of those activities again soon and often.

While she was searching for a way to tell him everything, she brushed off his advances by saying truthfully that she still had too much homework to do.

"Well, it's not like it will take that long," he grumbled once when he thought she couldn't hear him.

"You're not actually supposed to be proud of that, Harry," she chastised and excused herself.

But on Saturday, she couldn't get away from him. She found herself in a sick mirror of the date she'd had the day she was taken. It gave her that cold shiver in the spine feeling that some described as walking on her grave. Ginny told herself to get through it as best she could. She would have to break up with him and tell him details about what had happened to her while she was gone, details that she had wanted to keep to herself. But she also told herself that she couldn't just break up with him on Valentines Day. That would completely ruin it for him, and she didn't want to do that, either.

So while they sat at The Three Broomsticks with Ron and Hermione, Ginny was inordinately quiet.

"Does it remind you of last time?" Granger asked with a sympathetic face as she put her hand over Ginny's comfortingly.

"A little, yeah," she admitted. Though it wasn't the main source of her unease, the fact was still true that she did have memories of the day. She wasn't sure she would be able to visit Madame Stone's shop any time soon because of that fact.

"I, for one, am really glad Ginny is back, and this can be the start of new things," Harry said as he lifted his glass to make a toast.

The others agreed with him and continued to chat about various things. Hermione managed to make most of the conversation find its way back to her upcoming wedding with Ron. She kept going on about how perfect it was going to be and that on Valentines Day of all days, they should celebrate their love. The two then got up with Granger pulling her fiancé out to some other shop for wedding or love related doings.

"I guess that just leaves us," Ginny said wide eyed. "If I ever get like that about my wedding, hex me. I just want something simple and true with the man I love."

"Oh, really?" Harry asked as he leaned forward, looking at her through his round glasses.

"Yeah," she said with embarrassment. She took a drink to cover her face so he couldn't see her expression.

"So… um…" he started to say and blushed nearly as brightly as the Gryffindor red he was wearing. "We could get a room upstairs if you want. It would be more private. You know, so we could…"

Ginny grimaced at him. She should have just told him no and that their previous time was a mistake. She knew that, but she was drawn into his magnetism. It was easy to fall victim to it. If she hadn't been captured by Jonathan's men or raped by Stewart, Ginny probably would have been bursting at the seams to follow Harry up to that room.

There was another part of things that she didn't really want to admit. As a somewhat normal sixteen year old who was discovering the pleasures of the flesh, she was quite frankly curious what more of it would be like and how it would compare with a different person. No, it wouldn't be the same as sharing it with Remus, but as the werewolf himself liked to say, sex was like chocolate. Even when it was bad, it was a lot better than anything else that was out there.

So unfortunately for Ginny, Harry was able to pull her to the room despite all her misgivings and the red flags she had telling her she should not be doing this.

###

"You seem distracted, Miss Weasley," Albus Dumbledore told her the next day.

"I'm sorry, Professor. A lot of stuff on my mind," she explained away.

"I would like to add an additional thing to take up your thoughts," he said as if it was a delicious secret he was about to tell. "I have a special project in April that will be a perfect avenue for your specific talents."

"Are you going to make me guess what that could be?" she asked.

"No," he said as he went to stroke Fawkes, "but I think you may be able to figure it out. Think about what you know from the animals at your home and what you've learned through Care of Magical Creatures. What commonly happens in the spring?"

Ginny didn't answer him right away. Instead, she, too, went to stand in front of the phoenix and scratched his head as if he was her pet. The bird hopped off his perch to rest on her forearm while she scratched at his ears and the pin feathers on his face. He made appropriately blissful cooing noises at her.

"Spring is when most new animals are born," she finally said as she walked around the Headmaster's office, the phoenix still cradled on her arm.

"Correct! This year marks an unusual event. Maybe it is because there is a shift in all magic, and you are evidence of it. Usually when one phoenix dies, another phoenix is reborn. Over the years, there have generally been a static number of them in the world, but that is no longer the case."

"It isn't going to be Fawkes, is it?" she asked with concern. "He's not going to die forever, is he?"

"No, Miss Weasley, but he and I both appreciate your concern for him. It shows your purity of intent," he said.

"I don't know about that, Professor," she demurred, thinking of her foibles with Harry.

"In April, there will be not one but three completely new phoenixes being born in Egypt. I have asked the Egyptian authorities and your parents, of course, for travel permission to accompany the birth where you will be acting to help incubate the eggs until ignition," he said with gravitas.

"Really?" she asked, shock making her mouth hang wide open.

"Yes," he said with his eyes twinkling brilliantly. "I don't know of another more qualified assistant. Do you?"

"This is going to be amazing!" she finally said and danced a jig around the room with the bird still held securely in her arms. "Do we know when we're going?"

Dumbledore showed her his calendar with various appointments and different notations for weather, tides and moon phases. "April twelfth. Easter Sunday."

"But the full moon is the night before," she said.

"Quite right. Easter does usually fall on the first Sunday after that full moon, and most phoenixes are born then, completing the cycle of resurrection," he said as he stood up from behind his desk. "That shouldn't be a problem for you as you are not a werewolf."

She rolled her eyes because little did he know how wolfish her tendencies had actually become. Only Remus knew that full truth about her, though Harry had been witness to its side-effects.

"Now put Fawkes on his perch, and let us get back to practice," he ordered.

###

After she left the Headmaster's office, Ginny's head was in the clouds dreaming of her upcoming trip to Egypt. She had loved it the one time her family had gone there before, but this time she would be there for a whole different purpose. She was needed because of the unique magic only she possessed, and that made her sense of self-worth soar.

Harry was in the halls discussing one of the seventh year assignments with Neville Longbottom when he saw her coming his way, looking particularly radiant. He couldn't help but fall in love with her all over again upon seeing her. Her looks really had changed after she'd been captured. She was still _Ginny_, but now she was Ginny plus. She had a sparkle and a glow about her that he had never seen before.

"Do you know," he said as he put his arms around her, "that you are the most beautiful girl in these halls?"

"I'm just happy," she said as she wiggled out of his arms and shot a glance at Neville.

Harry interpreted her to be shy in front of their friend, so he let her go without much fuss. He decided to find out what she was up to. "Why were you in Professor Dumbledore's office? There's nothing wrong, is there?"

"No. It's um… tutoring. He wants to make sure I'll catch up on all my assignments before the year is out so I won't have to repeat it again. How embarrassing would that be?" she asked with a laugh.

Neville laughed with her and then walked away to give the pair time alone. Harry looked at her and invited her for a walk before they were supposed to go to the Great Hall for supper. Ginny thought she would like to get outside since she had been cooped up in classes and rooms too long. So she went to her room for a change of shoes and agreed to meet Harry outside.

###

Harry and Ginny had walked and talked, including a trip near the greenhouses where the Slytherin boys had been sent months before to gather ingredients for Moony's Wolfsbane Potion. She tore her eyes away from the greenhouses and that memory to look at Harry.

"How are your classes going?" she asked. "I didn't think to ask how well you're shaping up for the NEWTs or Auror training. I'm sorry I'm so forgetful."

He described his classes and that his prospects of becoming an Auror were looking very good. Professor McGonagall had come through on her promise to help him succeed, and even Professor Snape seemed to budge microscopically with Potions. When he was so happy telling her about the good things in his life, Ginny loved watching Harry.

That's what made it confusing for her, she thought. She really did love him and had never stopped. Why did the human heart have to be so elastic to include so many people in it? She took his hand in hers and smiled at him in the loving way that she had always used with him because she couldn't help it.

So when Harry pulled her into his arms to kiss her again, she went willingly. In her heart and everything in her body, she remembered the love she had for him that she had never lost. She remembered her desire to be touched and held, and how she wanted all those things all the time. She was human, she justified. It was not wrong to want those things.

That was where the physical relationship she had with Potter escalated. They sought each other out whenever they had free moments to take advantage of their mutual willingness. Some of the professors had joked that the students were feeling the sap rising for the spring, as it were, and it was definitely true in their case.

Ron and Hermione were already perfecting how they would act as self-satisfied married people who thought they had everything figured out and wanted to share their wisdom with the rest of the world. Ginny realized it was a type of retribution for how she and Harry had acted toward them when trying to force them together for their own good.

Despite Harry's best attempts at distracting her, Ginny did manage to make some headway on her homework assignments. For the classes that weren't skill based, she was able to research and do reports or make presentations in front of the students of her year. Ginny had no fear of public speaking, but she used the time to learn to speak with more poise and not sweat under pressure.

Everything seemed to go well for the young fire witch until she received a letter by owl post from her werewolf at the beginning of March.

_Hadn't heard from you in a while, so I assume you are busy with your schoolwork. You didn't let me know if you got the book, so I hope it arrived safely. Some owls are not as trustworthy as others._

_I finished building a greenhouse so I can grow all the plants that Tonks, Alastor and Kingsley gave me. It looks like they will be very healthy._

_Much to my surprise, I have also managed to find some regular work other than things for the OotP. Fighting evil is important, but doing it doesn't always put food on the table or shingles on the roof._

_Sending this to you with the warmest thoughts._

_-R_

Ginny held the letter to her chest and cried, a silent hot tear running down her face. It wasn't fair to him what she was doing. Life wasn't fair to anyone, she thought. She had this complicated man's undying love, and it was the rarest gift. She had told him she cast her lot with him, and they had, however jokingly, discussed their future children. Yes, Ginny had also once mentioned future children's names with Harry, but that had been more for comical effect than true intention. With Remus, it was different.

So be the person she wanted to be, Ginny had to stick by the choice that she had made. That meant that if she wanted to protect one person she loved, she had to hurt the other. Ginny had to break up with Harry Potter.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this is from "World Where You Live," performed by Crowded House on the album _Crowded House_.


	35. State of Change

**CHAPTER 35:  
State of Change**

_Be submissive just this once  
Imagine there is something to be done, some truth to tell  
_~Neil Finn

Intending to break up with Harry and actually doing it were working out to be two different things for Ginny Weasley. She tried to bring it up and would drop it quickly as she was unable to gracefully complete her thoughts. Even her friends realized she was unusually thoughtful compared to what she had been during the first month she had been back at Hogwarts.

It all came to a head on Friday the thirteenth, which was also the evening of the full moon. She felt the strong pull of it and knew what had gotten her into the messy situation. The time of pondering diplomacy was over. She had to act like it was a bandage and pull it quickly off the wound.

Ginny approached Potter in the common room as he was about to play a game with some of the boys in his year. "Harry, may I talk to you in private?"

His hopeful expression as he looked up at her showed that he wondered if this was an excuse to pull him into the broom closet for snogging or perhaps more. Ginny quickly corrected that notion.

"Just talking, and definitely private," she said with her shoulders drooping in sad anticipation of what was to come.

"I'll get my jacket," he said before following her out of Gryffindor Tower.

Once outside, Ginny walked toward the lake, which seemed appropriate. She could see the full moon in the sky and then reflected in the water's depths. That felt a little like her and Remus. She wasn't a werewolf as he was, but she was changed by a werewolf with both of them tied to the moon's cycles.

Harry came jogging up behind her because she had been walking really quickly. "Well, what is it you want to talk about?"

She took her eyes off the moon and looked at him instead. "You're not going to like what I have to say. You might not even want to listen to all of it."

He already looked at her dubiously. "So this is a 'you talk and I listen' kind of conversation? That's not too good, is it?"

"No," she said and opened her eyes wider to make sure they weren't watering.

"Harry, I… I changed when I got taken by Jonathan's men. I'm not the same Ginny I was before. I _really_ wish I was, but I'm not. It's not fair to you, and we need to break up."

It was awkward and artless, but it was out there. If she were lucky, she might not have to tell him all the details, but Ginny knew she wasn't _that_ lucky. Being Friday the thirteenth, it was the perfect time to be very unlucky.

Harry laughed slightly. "Is this a practical joke? Are Ron and Hermione going to come tell me I've been pranked?"

"No," she said as she pursed her lips together.

"But why can't we be together? I know you suffered while you were gone, but I thought we were okay. Things have been going really well between us. Did I get that wrong?" he asked, sounding genuinely bewildered.

She took a breath to steady her nerves. "You aren't wrong, Harry, but… I'm in love with someone else."

It felt like a dirty confession, and her face flushed in the darkness. Given the brightness of the moon, he was probably able to see it.

"You don't love me?" he asked in confusion. This was definitely shaping up to be one of the world record bad Friday the thirteenths for Harry.

"No, I do love you, which is why this is hard for me. I loved you before they took me. I loved you the whole time I was gone. I love you now still. But I can't be with you. It just isn't right!" she said, feeling like she was drowning.

"That makes no sense!" he finally yelled at her. "What's going on?"

"I love Remus," she said abruptly, standing still and as tall as she could make herself appear. "And he loves me. At least I hope he still will after he finds out what I've done."

Harry looked at her murderously, his green eyes flashing with anger. "Do you care to explain that to me?"

"When he came to save me, we grew closer. It… happened," she said, trying to keep the details to a minimum.

"Ginny, he's old enough to be your father, _and_ he likes men! He was with my godfather Sirius Black if you don't remember. Are you sure you're not just being delusional with a school girl crush on someone who tried to save you?" he said with a sound of disgust.

"First of all, I have my own father. I don't need another man substituting for him, thank you very much. I'm not that broken! Secondly, no, he's dated plenty of women before, and he told me all about it," she said.

"So basically he'll top anything that moves his way, is that it?" Harry asked archly.

Ginny stared daggers at him because the remark was so rude and misunderstanding of Lupin's true heart. Her Remus was a good man, but that didn't stop her verbal backlash.

"Well, he must be good at it. You seemed to enjoy the benefit of it."

Harry felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what you think I do," she said cruelly. "Where do you think I learned all those things you like me to do to you? He's a really good teacher, Harry, and I don't just mean Defense."

Potter felt like he was going to throw up. "That's just disgusting!"

"No, what's disgusting is me being pulled into your orbit and hating myself even more than I already did every single time we touched. At least when I was raped, it didn't happen because some part of me was a willing participant!" she said, venting angrily. There was nothing good about having been raped, and it had been the silent partner in all the intimacy she had shared with Remus and later with Harry.

"You were raped?" Potter asked weakly. "But how could you…? You never said…"

Ginny got in his face aggressively. "I was, and Remus killed every single one of those bastards who touched me. Every single one of them!"

Harry was absolutely shocked, but his own cruel side came out. "Did he do that before or _after_ you let him touch you?"

With great self-control that she didn't know she possessed, Ginny did not set Harry on fire, but she _did_ slap him hard enough to make him stumble back to the ground. Then she crouched down low and dangerous over him.

"Don't make me hurt you, Harry. I am quite capable of doing it," she said with lethal edge. "Now I am going to repeat myself slowly so you understand. I can't be with you because I am not the same person I used to be. We are over."

When Ginny stood back up with her hair loose in the soft breeze and the moonlight shining down upon her, he saw a fleeting glimpse of the flaming warrior goddess that Moony loved with all his werewolf heart. Harry had absolutely no idea what he was witnessing as she regally walked away into the night.

###

Harry did not take the break up well. As Ginny's Quidditch captain, he was ruthless with their practice the next day. She was angry enough at him to do everything he ordered perfectly, no matter how unusual the request. She was determined that she would show Harry Potter that she couldn't be conquered.

The rest of the Gryffindor house were soon on to the fact that they'd broken up, and whispers sprang to life like vipers whenever Ginny passed by. She tried to let the talk roll off her like water off a duck's back because she had a bigger concern. She knew that she had to tell Remus everything that happened, and she dreaded hurting him.

On the following Friday, she sat at the desk in her room looking at the book he had sent her. It was such an unremarkable book in and of itself, but Ginny loved the still photos that only moved with the power of her imagination. Just knowing he had taken it from Grimmauld Place to give to her, made her smile every time she thought of it.

Had their mutual agreement on the photos in the book been a sign of what they would become to each other? Probably it wasn't, though that game was interesting to play. When _exactly_ had she fallen in love with Remus? Was the answer to the question even important?

Her meandering thoughts got interrupted when she was asked to appear in Professor McGonagall's office. It was unusual to come by after hours when she knew she didn't have a detention. Perhaps she was going to tell her something about the Quidditch practice that she would have to endure with Harry the next day.

Instead, Ginny found Remus Lupin sitting in McGonagall's office with a small package in his hand, and he was laughing at something Hermione and Ron were telling him. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him so near and smiling so easily. Harry was with them, too, and he was barely concealed the seething looks he was giving the werewolf. As Ginny looked around to all parties present, she tried to figure out what was happening and wondered if she'd just walked into a trap.

"So you'll be at our wedding, right?" Ron verbally confirmed with Remus. "You have to be there. Mum is going to put together an extravaganza just like we did for Bill."

"And your parents will be there, no doubt, to amuse Mr. Weasley?" Lupin asked Hermione.

"That's one of the reasons Ronald's parents are hosting the wedding. It's not traditional, but it will be okay," she said.

"Professor," Ginny interrupted softly. "I was called here."

"Oh, yes, dear," McGonagall said in that mothering tone she sometimes took on. "Mr. Lupin has brought you a package from your parents."

"You can use it when you go to Egypt," he said proudly with his eyes sparkling silver.

She appreciated the small sign that the bridge of communication between him and her parents had not crumbled when she had returned to school, but the first thing on her mind was her raging guilt. Whisper soft, she said, "Remus, I have to talk to you."

The sound of her request was buried under the cacophony of her classmates exclaiming with varying degrees of interest about the fact that she was going to go to Egypt and none of them had known anything about it.

"I guess you're getting better at keeping secrets. Aren't you, Gin?" Harry asked icily.

That got the first surprised look from Lupin who noticed the boy looking at Ginny hatefully.

Looking at the package without taking it, she said to Moony again, "Thank you, but I need to talk to you. Immediately."

She reached for his hand, and pulled him from the chair. Then she practically ran out of the room until he pulled back on her arm. He did not want to be treated like a rag doll, and she was so obviously upset that he wanted to get right to the bottom of it.

§I doubt you've pulled me away to ravish me, as tempting as that thought might be. What's bothering you?§ he asked using their mind link.

"I can't tell you inside the castle," she said aloud as she looked for the nearest exit as if to find it would give her a reprieve.

###

The pair of them ended up in the stables with the thestrals, and both Remus and Ginny watched the creatures curiously while the girl worked on her courage to speak. As with many other things that united them together, they shared the ability to see the ghostly horses. Ginny sighed when she thought of just why she could see them.

"What is it?" Remus asked aloud and working very hard to keep his voice neutral. He had a huge sense of foreboding, and Ginny had been using her mental shields aggressively while they had been in motion.

"I made a mistake," she said sadly. "I had to tell you because we don't keep lies between us. I'm so sorry, Remus."

"What did you _do_?" he asked, the little hairs on his neck prickling.

"I was with Harry," she admitted, not daring to look him in the eyes as she said it.

Remus had so many thoughts rush in his head that he was not sure which ones to deal with first. He put his hands up as if to make them stop their onslaught.

"I will assume you mean intimately. Would that be true?" he asked with his eyes closed. He shook his head to the side as if to make the mental image dislodge from his brain.

"Yes," Ginny said. She couldn't look at him because she was filled with too much guilt.

"I _asked_ you if you wanted to go back to Harry. I asked you before we got in too deep. You told me you chose _me_, but as soon as I'm not around, you're with him," Lupin said as he tried to come to terms with it. "Is this what being with you is going to be like, Ginny?"

She was confused about what he meant, but she heard the hurt tone in his voice. "I don't understand."

"Are you going to fall for the next pretty boy who comes your way when I'm not around? I'm not all that pretty, and I'm certainly not a boy!" he said while trying to keep his anger in check. "Is it my fault for loving you? You're just a girl, but I still fell for you anyway. I should have known better…"

"I shouldn't have fallen for you, either! I had a boyfriend. A living one," she jabbed. "And I don't fall for every boy I see. How dare you think that of me!"

"I think you're young and that you just might regret chaining yourself to an old werewolf," he said. Then exasperated, he said, "You don't know what you want!"

"Yes. I do," she said. "I want _you_. I couldn't keep doing it with him, Remus. It would have been so easy, but I had to stop. He and I aren't together. We're through. It's over."

He silently turned his head in inquisition as he realized what she had said. "What do you mean by 'keep doing it'? Just how long had that been going on?"

"A month," she admitted with her head turned so her hair could cover her face. "It began on the full moon, and…"

She could feel the emotional pain radiating out from him, and it felt as horrible to her as she knew it would. He had his hand held out still as if to halt the progress.

"Well, that explains why you never responded to my owls," he laughed shakily, "even when it was you who said she'd write. How nice for you."

"I'm sorry, Remus! You don't know what I've been going through since I've been back here," she pleaded.

"Exactly! I don't know because you haven't told me anything," he raged. "You leave telling me you love me and that you'll cast your lot with me, but as soon as you're in the same familiar old situation again, you're done with me. Well, I'm glad I could provide some temporary amusement for you, Miss Weasley."

"No, it wasn't like that!" she said as she tried to place her hand on his arm.

Lupin backed away from her as if he couldn't stand to be touched by her, and that hurt Ginny more than anything. "We all make mistakes, Remus. Please forgive me."

"I think I'm the one who made the mistake here," he said bitterly.

"Do you _really_ mean that? Are we over?" she asked with the last question spoken in silent fear.

"No!" he yelled. He wasn't ready to just throw everything away no matter how much he was hurting inside. "Ginny, I need time. You've had a month to get used to this, and I just found out. You can't expect me to act like everything is sunshine and rainbows. I'm not… I'm just not that way."

"I'm sorry," she repeated softly. "I love you."

He nodded his head as if heard her, but he would not make eye contact. His mental shields were in place as strong as if they could not communicate mind to mind at all. Then Remus started backing out of the thestral barn.

"Be safe in Egypt," he said.

"But I'm not going there for three weeks!" she cried out as she realized it was his goodbye.

Lupin looked at her quickly, but then dropped his gaze and left the barn and the rest of the school grounds as fast as his two human legs could take him.

###

Hermione found Ginny that evening curled up in her bed and suffering a case of heart sickness. The older girl sat down on her bed, and stroked her hair. "You forgot your package in Professor McGonagall's office. Do you want to talk about it?"

Ginny sniffed. She felt all cried out, but there had been other times she'd felt the same way and tears still managed to come. She sat up in her bed, and looked at her future sister-in-law.

"Why do I need to talk about it? I'll get over it because that's what I do. I always get over everything eventually," she said bitterly.

"Does this have anything to do with Harry?" Granger asked. "I know he's been out of sorts lately."

"Yes, and if you got your head out of the 'going to be married' bubble, you'd know why!" Ginny said pointedly. "Not everything is as great for everyone else as it is for you and Ron."

"Then do you want to tell me what it is?" Hermione asked again and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she listened.

"I broke up with him last week. Now he hates me," she replied. To herself she added, _And now Remus hates me, too_.

"I'm sure he'll forgive you eventually. Why did you break up? You looked so good back together. With the eyes he was shooting you, it could have been a double wedding!" Hermione said with excitement at who her best friend could marry.

Ginny howled with tears and put her pillow in front of her face. Oh, she'd thought of her future wedding all right, but the groom was not one Mr. Harry James Potter.

Hermione looked at her friend's obvious pain in confusion. "If it's so bad, why don't you go back to him?"

"Because I don't love him like that any more!" Ginny finally gasped. "I love someone else, and even if _he_ doesn't want me any more, I still couldn't go back to Harry. It's over, Hermione."

Granger opened and closed her mouth like a fish while she tried to comprehend what Ginny had said. She finally asked, "Who is it?"

Weasley smiled ruefully. "Let's just say it's complicated and leave it like that. If our love dies, that's one less reminder of it to haunt me later."

"I'm sorry, Ginny," the other witch said. She was dying of curiosity to know who it was the younger Weasley loved, but she was too prudent to ask at that moment.

Curiosity did eventually get the better of her, though, so Hermione asked, "Do I know who he is? Does Harry know him?"

The red haired witch finally looked at her, and Granger could see that the girl's eyes were bloodshot with having cried too much. "Yes," was all she said.

"Well… do you want to tell me why you're going to Egypt? I didn't even know until Remus mentioned it. That's got to be exciting!" she said, trying to change the subject to something more pleasant.

"It's a special magic project," Ginny answered. "I've been working on something for a while, and Dumbledore is taking me there to use my talents."

Hermione looked jealous. "I'm a good witch, and he's never taken _me_ anywhere on a special project."

"You don't have the magic I do," she said simply but did not further explain.

Hermione was annoyed, but she kept her mouth shut. She left Ginny's room after a few more minutes to go on one of her Head Girl patrols.

###

At Quidditch practice the next day, Harry was as hard-assed as he had ever been, if not harder. Ginny wanted to set fire to his broom, but she knew she wasn't that petty, even if she really wanted to be. Instead, she resolved within herself to get to the next full moon. She had phoenix babies to think about, and her magic was magnificent

Like many of the recent changes in her life, Ginny had kept her fire magic a secret known only to her parents, Alastor Moody, Albus Dumbledore, and, of course, Remus. None of the others in her life knew what she could do, and at times she felt bored in her regular classes. It was only during her Sunday sessions with the Headmaster that she was challenged to work on something that was special and uniquely hers.

Ginny sat hovering on her broom at the end of practice after Harry told the team to go to the locker room. She was full of ideas sometimes, and if her Elemental magic was only restrained by the limit of her ideas, then she should imagine something new. She reasoned to herself that she should do something crazy.

As she skimmed across the sky, Ginny thought about fire in movement. She had loved doing barrel rolls and making twisting flames as she shot through the sky that first night she had returned. If she was an embodiment of the power of flame, couldn't she also just become a living flame if she wished? _That_ idea was crazy, but it was the kind of crazy Ginny was willing to try after the weeks she'd had. This would be new, without the input or encouragement of Remus and completely her own thing.

So Ginny sat up on her broom and shed most of her gear and clothing, throwing it all down to the ground far below her. Then she moved her broom to a different place over the pitch, and she stared to stand up on the long handle like a balancing acrobat. She tried steering the broom with just her bare feet for a while until she was ready. Then Ginny fell like Lucifer being thrown out from the great heights of heaven down to the pits of hell.

She closed her eyes as she surrendered to gravity. The act felt to her like it was all happening in slow motion. The wind around Ginny howled as she passed through it. She breathed deeply, not knowing where in vertical space she was, but feeling the gravitational forces pulling her more strongly as she neared the ground. She concentrated all her fire magic in her body moving out from the center to the rest of her extremities with ever increasing heat until she herself was burning in her descent.

Before her body could hit the ground, it winked out of existence briefly. Then a halo of light gathered in one place near all Ginny's sports equipment and robes. The light slowly darkened and solidified until Ginny Weasley herself stood naked on the ground of the Quidditch pitch.

She had done it! She allowed herself to smile in triumph. Then she picked up her wand and shouted, "_Accio_ broom!"

Naked or not, she was going to get back on that broom and practice falling again and again until the feeling was memorized. Then she was going to practice it on the ground until she could move from place to place as she wished. It was rather simple, she thought to herself. Her movement could be like a hybrid of Apparating and using the Floo, but it would still be uniquely Ginny.

In his office across Hogwarts grounds, the breath of excitement caught in Albus Dumbledore's throat because he realized Remus Lupin had been more than right about the extent of Ginny's magic. It was near limitless and extremely powerful. He watched her from his window in wonder that she could fall from the sky like a meteor and dissipate into flames only to rebuild herself again. He knew she could control the fires she made, but he had not personally thought to ask her to become a literal living flame if necessary. He considered that perhaps he had been wrong to limit their sessions to only the indoor use of her fire magic.

The exhilaration he felt watching her was matched by his caution because Ginny's magic was still a secret thing known only to a small group of six people. He sent out a charm to camouflage the pitch so that no one else would accidentally discover her practice. Unaware of the Headmaster's aid, the young fire witch continued to experiment with her magic until her hunger was too great to ignore.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter is from "In My Command," performed by Crowded House on the album _Together Alone_.


	36. Quibbles, Conversations and Truth

**CHAPTER 36:  
Quibbles, Conversations and Tidbits of Truth**

_Talk to her, that's nice  
Or you could make a murder begin  
Breathe on her, that's right  
Once more you will be her friend  
_~Neil Finn

On the last day of March Remus was sitting at his kitchen table busy scribbling away on parchment. His ink stained hands reminded him of how they had looked when he was a student too busy with assignments. He had enjoyed school not just for the friends but also for the classes. His new job had given him a certain sense of satisfaction that he didn't realize he could feel.

He had started working at the _Quibbler_ of all things, and it had started because of his regular visits to Molly and Arthur during February while Ginny was back in school. It had been a strange turn of events for the three of them. While Remus was already considered a friend, his relationship, such as it was, with Ginny made them reconsider their opinions of him and see him in a new light. In a sense, he was courting the parents while the real object of his affections was otherwise occupied.

Lupin had met Mr. Lovegood quite by accident one day when the eccentric wizard had stopped by to give a neighborly gift to the Weasleys. When Arthur asked him the polite questions about his newspaper, he had mentioned needing help because the reporter Arjuna who had done the fire beast article had disappeared.

"I'm available," Remus had said impulsively.

He had to have _some_ source of income, and, thankfully, Lovegood was rather pleased with the idea of having a werewolf on staff. It was a winning situation for all that had resulted in him working on an article to submit by the deadline for the April Fools Day edition of the paper.

Lupin heard a knock at his door and frowned as he wondered who it could be at that time of night. His small circle of friends usually came to call on the weekends, not on a Tuesday night. So he walked to the door with his wand drawn defensively and saw Arthur Weasley standing on the other side.

"Hello, Arthur," he said and looked the other man up and down. "Is there something I can do for you? I was just in the middle of finishing an article for the _Quibbler_."

"If you don't have much work left, I'll wait until you're done. I want you to be focused when I talk to you," he replied.

Remus looked at him suspiciously, but waved him in to his home. Then he sat back down at his table and wrote and rearranged the words until they were perfection. Weasley only had to wait an hour while it happened, and during the waiting he was looking all over Lupin's house at the various repairs and enhancements he had made since taking residence again there in January.

At last, Remus finished his work and sent it by special owl to the _Quibbler_ offices. He waited for Arthur to make his opening move since he was the one who had come here with thoughts on his mind.

Arthur splayed his fingertips together as he spoke. "I'm here about Ginny. Have you changed your feelings for her?"

"I've had time to rethink them," he said evasively.

"Remus, I don't know what happened between the two of you any of the times that things happened between the two of you. That's because a relationship is personal, and there are sides to it none of the rest of us can see because we simply aren't there. I do know she is heartsick right now, and I have my guess as to what happened since you and Harry both seem to be on the outs with her. But I don't know for sure," Mr. Weasley said carefully. "It's possible I could be seeing something that's not there."

"What are you trying to get at, Arthur?" he asked wearily.

"I'd like to help you not make a mistake you might regret," he said. "I know you stepped far out of your comfort zone and took a chance with Ginny, and I recognize that it took bravery on your part to be honest with Molly and me about your intentions toward her. Don't give up so easily. If you've got a good thing, you've got to hold on to it."

"What makes you think I've given up? You just told me that the only people who really know what is in a relationship are the two people who are actually involved," he counter argued.

Arthur opened his hands and shrugged with his palms up. "Maybe you haven't. Tell me your side of the story then."

"I think I'd rather not," he grumbled. "Or are you going to stay here until I do?"

"I am a patient man with many sons, a demanding wife and a headstrong daughter. I know how to wait you out," he said with a self-amused smile.

"Be that as it may, I am not one of your sons. I am too old for that, and your daughter is too young for me. She's still in school, and she has some growing up to do," he said, sounding very final about it.

"I see… And what did she do that was so immature? Do you want me to tell you one of my guesses? It seems that when she went back to her old life, she went back to her old ways. Would that be fair?" Arthur suggested.

Remus kept his face impassive, but Weasley continued.

"But it also seems she realized her old ways just weren't good enough for her any more. People change and grow even if we don't always want to see that they do. So… did she come back to you?" he asked.

"Yes. She asked my forgiveness," Lupin said stoically.

"Then why haven't you forgiven her, man? I don't know what happened, but I do know it takes a lot of courage to admit you've done wrong and stand there to take your licks. That sounds like a very mature thing to do, in my opinion."

Remus finally let down his defenses enough to admit, "This relationship with her is just an invitation to insanity! What if I'm just setting myself up for heartache? What if she decides she didn't really care about me all that much after all? I've already lost too much."

Arthur sucked in a long breath of air. "_None_ of us have any guarantees in this life except that it ends. As much as I like you, Remus, it is no surprise to say I would never have chosen you for Ginny. I had _very_ different dreams for her. Despite that, you two make a certain kind of sense together in your own way. Have you stopped loving her?"

"No!" he said as he pounded his fist on his thigh. "If I had, I wouldn't feel so miserable right now."

"Oh, well, good!" Arthur said with a smile. "You should feel miserable."

"How in hell can this be good?" Remus asked with annoyance, very much disliking the older man in that moment.

"Because you still have a chance to be with her if that's what you really want," Weasley declared. "I'll tell you one more thing as a man who has been with the same woman a long time. Problems will arise as surely as the sun in the east. It's not the problems that define you but how you deal with them."

"Well, thank you for sounding so wise," Moony said with an eye roll.

"Grow _up_, Remus!" Arthur finally barked in frustration with him. "Decide if you're going to forgive her and be with her or not, and then move on. Sometimes it really is that simple."

Mr. Weasley stood up as if to leave but had one last remark in him about the subject. "When you get it all put to rights, don't tell me about it. You may think I'm an overbearing and over-interested father, but there are things that I will not want to know under any circumstances, such as your sex life, dear god. Let's just agree never to talk about that."

Lupin looked like he had sucked a lemon. Then he did his own involuntary shudder. "Why _would_ I tell you about that? You just ruined what could have been one of those classic mentoring moments with something that's so…"

Arthur heartily laughed at his discomfort. "That wasn't me giving you my permission, by the way. That was just me wanting to stay in blissful ignorance. Do you understand?"

Remus stood up himself and walked to his door. "Go home. I'll figure myself out in my own time."

Weasley nodded his agreement before asking, "Is Xeno sending you to Egypt to write about the phoenix birth?"

"Not that I'm aware," he replied. "So far we've done well to keep Ginny's magic the secret it needs to be, so it hasn't made it to his attention. I really would like to see her pull it off, though. Do you know I can see her in the dark? It's the most amazing thing."

"You or your werewolf?" Arthur asked.

"Same thing," he replied before showing him all the way out.

###

Ginny had been unaware that her father had argued on her behalf with Remus. She had tried to keep that disappointment as private as possible because she had some sense of pride. Of course, her broken heart couldn't help leaking out on the sides of everything she did, including her Floo calls with her parents. With everything else, she tried to keep herself too busy to think of it all.

The witch had completed the last of her old assignments and gotten good marks on them. Once she had the goal of Egypt to work toward, she had done as much as she could to finish before she left. Hermione had approved glowingly at Ginny's academic mastery, though she was still envious of the fact that the younger witch was doing an unnamed special magic project.

Harry and Ron were equally as ignorant about what she had been doing with her fire magic. If Harry watched her suspiciously, it was because of his spurned heart, not because he knew of any extraordinary abilities she possessed. He was aware, though, that she stayed extra hours in the Quidditch pitch doing nothing that directly affected how she played the game.

After April's first Saturday practice Harry stayed behind to see exactly what Ginny was doing up there. Unfortunately, Professor Dumbledore had picked that exact moment to come up to him and strike up a jovial conversation. When Harry had turned his eyes back to the sky above them, it seemed that the red haired witch had already left for the showers.

"Ah, Harry! It's such a lovely day, isn't it? I never did play Quidditch myself, but it is an exciting game," Albus had said.

"Sir, you don't just visit me any more without a reason. Is it Voldemort?" Potter asked.

He looked rebuffed and very grandfatherly. "I just wanted to see how one of my special students is doing. Can't I want to check on you?"

"Do you know why Ginny is going to Egypt?' Harry asked, side stepping Dumbledore's question.

"Yes! If you want to know about it, you can ask her yourself. She may even tell you in her own time. It's quite exciting, if I do say so myself," he said with his eyes twinkling behind his half moon glasses.

"We're not talking to each other right now," the boy admitted.

"Mr. Potter, true friends are hard to find, and she would be a good friend to you eventually if you let her. Consider it food for thought," Dumbledore said before looking to the sky again with his eyes taking on a fascinated daze.

"Sir, what is it?" Harry demanded.

"It's beautiful, the most frightening and beautiful thing I have ever seen," he said sounding wistful.

There were times that the rest of the magical world thought Albus Dumbledore to be quite mad. As Harry looked again to the empty sky that had his Headmaster so enraptured, he thought this was maybe one of those times. He excused himself and left to the showers.

###

On Palm Sunday with one week to go before the phoenix hatching in Egypt, Ginny's energy was high in her practices with Dumbledore. She had run through all the things he had asked of her, and they discussed contingency plans in case things went wrong.

"You have done excellent preparation, Ginny. Now we just wait for time to come. It seems that a few of your friends are aware of your trip. Harry was asking me questions yesterday," he said as he sat behind his desk and offered her lemon drops.

She took one and said, "That was unintentional. Remus mentioned it in front of them, but I told Hermione it was a special project and left it at that."

"Your parents and Remus rightly want to protect your identity, but you can speak about it to your friends if that is your choice," he said.

"Sir," she replied with a sigh, "I really haven't talked to them about much of anything. Since I've come back, I've kept pretty much to myself."

"I know," he said sympathetically. "You shouldn't be afraid to open up to your friends. Sometimes a person really needs to talk to someone. It might be exactly what you need."

"I think…" she started hesitantly. "I think I know of someone. Is it okay if I use your Floo? I'd like to have some privacy."

"Certainly," he agreed, letting her pass on to his inner chambers.

When Ginny got to the Floo, she sat down on the Oriental rug in front of it and steadied herself before calling her brother's house. When Bill answered the call, he was quite surprised to see his sister.

"Hi, Bill," she said with a slow spreading smile. "Is Fleur home? I'd like to talk to her, please. Just us."

"Is this a girl thing?" he asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Yes, Bill. I'm going to ask her about boys and talk about menstruation," Ginny said sarcastically.

Seeing his sister's humor in place made him feel much better about how things were going. With a wide smile, he replied, "I'll go get her."

A few minutes later the witch in question was sitting on her side of the Floo ready to have a long personal talk with the red haired witch. "Allo, Ginny!"

She looked at the French witch and smiled in relief. Then Ginny began to talk, and once she started talking she didn't stop for several hours. She told Fleur of the captivity, including details she had not yet mentioned to others. There would always be things she never shared with anyone, but the former Beauxbatons champion got one of the first complete stories of what actually happened.

Ginny told her, too, about falling in love with Remus and how that had been unexpected and very strange. Her love for him could bring her the highest highs and lowest lows. Fleur was the first witness to of the depth of her feelings for the werewolf since she could speak about it more openly and sincerely than she had done with Harry. Though Ginny's parents were aware of the feelings between her and the werewolf, they hadn't actually discussed it explicitly.

The younger witch stopped during that part of the conversation and blushed. "You probably think I'm being silly, don't you?"

"_Non_," Fleur replied. "I think you already know what your heart feels. You want someone to listen to you and not judge you."

"Yes, you're right," Ginny agreed. "I don't have many close female friends, and I never had a sister. I didn't have anyone else, but it is good to talk to you. You were the right person."

The woman practically preened in pleasure at the compliment.

"I have something else to talk to you about if you still have time," Ginny said.

Fleur started laughing. "I do! You have kept much bottled up inside you. So I will stay until it all spills out."

"I am going to Egypt in a few days because I can do fire magic. I don't need a wand, just the force of my will. I'm the one who started the fire that burned down the mansion where Jonathan had me," she said.

"That is very strong magic!" Fleur replied looking quite interested and impressed.

"There's more," Ginny said with nervousness and excitement. "I have learned to move my entire being within flames. I can jump from fire to fire to fire. Well, I think I can. I am still practicing, but I can do amazing things."

"So you are fireproof?" she asked. "Could you be burned by a fire someone else made?"

"I don't know," Weasley said as she thought of it. "I'm not afraid of fire, but I hadn't ever touched one just to find out."

"That would be interesting, I think," Fleur said with a nod of her delicate head. "You could have much you could do if you had no fear of fire."

"I am already doing much. I get to ignite the eggs of three phoenixes!" she said with flailing excitement.

"But… do they not make enough heat on their own to continue without our help?" the witch asked.

"This is a special birth, and one parent can't produce enough heat and fire for three separate eggs. Perhaps it is possible with two, but not three," Ginny explained.

"I see," Fleur thought. "And what is your weakness? There is no strength without weakness."

"And no weakness without strength," Weasley replied, pleasantly surprised to find herself in agreement with her. "I can sometimes become _really_ tired. The magic is still new to me, too, so I don't know all my reactions yet. Sometimes when I use it too much, I must sleep deeply for a long time. At other times, I feel ravenously hungry."

Ginny then confessed one of her darkest secrets. "The others don't know about my magic yet. Sometimes when I see everyone around me looking happy and normal, I hate all their smug little faces. Jonathan took me, and I changed. I think that's why Professor Dumbledore wanted me to talk to someone. If I tell, maybe then I won't explode at the other students or set Harry's broom on fire even when he _really_ deserves it."

"I know how he likes his broom," the French witch commented since she had seen Potter use it so spectacularly in one of the Tri-Wizard tasks. "That would be funny to see, I think. Not very nice, but funny."

"Fleur! You're not supposed to say something like that," Ginny laughed. "But I'm glad you did."

"Do you feel better now?" she asked with true concern.

"I… do," she said after thinking about it.

"Very good. We shall be great friends, I think. Much better than before. You call me again when you need me. I will enjoy that, too. I have not so many female friends, either," Fleur confessed.

"I will do that. I promise." And she meant it.

When Ginny emerged from Dumbledore's private sanctuary, she was surprised to see the passage of time. She had completely missed supper, and a few of the portraits were yawning, though they always appeared sleepy to her anyway. One of the livelier ones woke up enough to tell her she had permission to go to the kitchens to find something to eat. So she left quietly, trying to make sure nothing was disturbed.

###

In the Gryffindor common room, Harry was trying to get information out of Ron if he knew anything at all about Ginny's trip to Egypt. The interrogation wasn't getting very far because Weasley didn't have much to tell.

"When I ask mum or dad, they say I should wait to talk to Ginny. I mean, it's great that they know, but she's got a history with finding herself in a lot of trouble when she keeps secrets. They're not acting like it's anything bad, but what if it is?" Ron asked.

"You could just ask her," Hermione said as she flounced down in the chair beside them. She pointed to Ginny coming through the portrait hole.

"Where've you been?" Ron demanded to know.

"I was talking to Fleur. Not that it's any business of yours," she replied, looking rather pale. She hadn't been able to find much in the kitchens despite her usual luck with things, and the work of the day was starting to catch up with her.

"So she is your best friend now," Ron said while Hermione looked on with a tinge of jealousy. She hadn't liked the subtle power shift in January when Ginny had shown Bill's wife such favor.

"She might become my best friend one day," she admitted. "She's a good person to talk to. She isn't just pretty or really demanding."

"Are you ever going to tell us what you're going to be doing in Egypt?" Harry asked with as neutral of a voice as he could muster.

Ginny shrugged. "I can start fires with my mind. I'm going to go there and start fires. It's what I do."

Ron squinted his blue eyes at her. "That's a pretty good story, Gin. Have you told that one to mum and dad?"

"Yeah. They thought it was a good story, too," she said with a yawn. "I need to go to sleep. Goodnight, everyone."

After she went up to her room, Ron was still shaking his head at her story. "Would be kind of cool if she really could do that, though, don't you think?"

"Elemental magic like that doesn't really exist," Hermione intoned as part of her role as group know-it-all. "That's just what Muggle children and some game players like to think is real."

"Maybe she's telling the truth," Harry said with a contemplative expression. "I overheard Tonks talking about how bad everything had been burned where they used to be. If I could have started a fire, I might have done that, too."

"Well, yeah. Me, too, but that doesn't mean Ginny was being serious," Ron said with only the wrong-headed certainty a big brother can have.

###

When Remus Lupin entered the _Quibbler_ offices the next Monday, he was already feeling the pressure of the full moon's impending change that Saturday evening. It was an odd and out of sorts feeling that dogged him. He wasn't as libidinous as he had at times been, and he considered that a good thing for now. He didn't want to make any inappropriate contact with his new coworkers.

"Mr. Lupin!" Xenophilius Lovegood said happily when Remus came to his office. "I think I have a special assignment for you that could be an interesting opportunity for all of us."

Sitting down politely, he asked, "What is it you want me to do?"

"I have a contact who is willing to put advertisements in the paper if we get coverage of his wife's pet project. It's nothing important. Something about a birth. But if you go there and get the interviews and details about it, we will have money in the coffers to last us until the end of July," he said. "So it will benefit all of us."

He wrinkled his nose at the thought. Writing about that didn't seem appealing on a personal level, but sometimes a person new on the job had to take a job none of the others wanted.

"Is there anything unusual I need to know about this job?" he asked just to be sure.

"Unfortunately, yes. The timing does not work well for your particular condition, but my other reporters are either busy or on vacation since they have seniority," he said. "The event is supposed to be on Sunday…"

"The day after the full moon," Lupin said with a nod.

"And it takes place in… ah. Luxor," Lovegood said as he consulted his notes.

"Egypt? Are you kidding me?" he asked. "Is this the planned ignition of three new phoenix hatchlings?"

Xeno looked impressed with his new reporter. "Good work, Mr. Lupin. If you are that fast with a tip, then you should find this easy to write. I will make sure a portkey is arranged for you to use as soon as you have completed your moon cycle Sunday morning."

"Thank you," Remus said in disbelief as he got up from his chair. He was excited at the prospect of seeing Ginny's magic in use for such a wondrous event, and now that he had the opportunity, there would be little that kept him away.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric quote for this chapter is from "Transit Lounge" performed by Crowded House on the album _Time on Earth_.

The idea for Lupin's job came from AJRoald. I'd mentioned his new job in chapter 34 but had no idea at the time what it actually was. So AJ came to the rescue with an idea that gave me lots of possibilities.


	37. The Birth of the Fire Witch

**CHAPTER 37:  
The Birth of the Fire Witch**

_From the cradle to the grave  
From the palace to the gutter  
Beneath the dying waves of the sun  
Lie fingers of love  
_~Neil Finn

On Easter Sunday, Ginny descended the stairs from the girls' dorm after preparing herself for the trip. The plan was to portkey to Egypt and come immediately back. During the last week she had been having Floo calls with the other witches and wizards who would be assisting on the incubation and ignition project, and the adults involved did not believe an advanced in person meeting was necessary. They did, however, give her specific dress requirements, which explained the current look she had as Harry, Ron and Hermione waited for her at the bottom of the stairs.

"You look really pretty," Potter said as his voice caught in his throat.

Ginny was wearing a white dress that could have been the softest leather. The bodice was tight to her curves and the skirt was full around her supple legs while the sleeves were loose but tapering to her forearm. On her feet she wore white dancer-like shoes, and her hair had small detailed braids to accentuate her facial features.

"That would be a good wedding dress," Hermione said approvingly since weddings were still on her brain.

Ginny looked down at herself. "I think I get to keep it. It is a nice dress. I almost feel like a princess. Too bad I can't stay in Egypt longer than a day."

"So you're just going there and back?" Harry asked.

"That's the plan," Ginny said with a big smile to show her uncertainty as to anything else.

Ron had a thinking look on his face, and he turned to his sister like a curious dog. "Gin, can you really start fires with your brain?"

Hermione started to tease him for falling for his sister's joke, but she was soon silenced.

"No, I can't," Ginny said as she waved her left hand in the air between them and covered it in sparkling flames. She winked at them, and the others saw the flame go out.

"That's… amazing!" Ron said, clearly impressed with and proud of his sister.

"I wouldn't have been able to find my magic without you, Ron," she said as she remembered that it was thinking about his teacup that had been the key to unlocking her power.

"Does Remus know you can do that?" Harry had to know.

"Absolutely." Then she cheekily added, "He's the only person I can't burn with my fire. Good for him, but not so good for you. Thankfully, I have enough self control not to burn my Quidditch captain's broom out from under him even when he's being an unforgivable prat."

She put her hands on her long skirt to lift it as she walked and excused herself to go meet Dumbledore for their appointment with the portkey. The confidence with which she left masked the nervousness and excitement she was feeling inside.

Back in the common room where the trio remained, Hermione asked Harry, "Why would you ask her about Remus?"

"Because she loves him," he admitted while he watched the door as if he could still see her.

Both Hermione and Ron reacted at the same time with surprise expressed at different noise levels.

Granger had said relatively softly, "So that's who she meant!"

Meanwhile, Weasley said loudly, "Why does everyone else know more about my sister than I do?"

"I don't think we know much of anything at all any more," Harry declared, his eyes still on the door where Ginny had left.

###

Together, Ginny and Albus Dumbledore had walked beyond the protective wards of Hogwarts to the places where they could use the portkey. Like her, his robes were in ceremonial white to honor the birth. The other witches and wizards participating would also have their whites.

"Are you feeling any effects from last night's full moon, Miss Weasley," he asked in a way that seemed off hand but wasn't.

"I made sure to keep my own company, and I tried to get some rest for today's travel," she said.

"Very good. Before we go, take this to settle your stomach. The trip will be longer than other trips you have done before, and it would not do you well to be sick on a pleasurable journey," he said as he held out something that looked like a wrapped piece of candy.

Ginny took the candy but reminded him that she had been to Egypt before.

"Our journey is to a very specific place, so it is better to take all precautions. Are you ready? Then we shall be off," Professor Dumbledore said before they both touched the official portkey.

###

In Luxor, Remus Lupin made it in as the last of the crowd of reporters to arrive since he had to wait until after he was completely human again. He doubted there were any other werewolves there because he just couldn't smell it on any of them. It might have been more convenient had he spent the full moon in Egypt, but he didn't want to do that for the first time in a strange place.

The normal types of people who showed up to officious events were all gathered in the seating and reception areas. A few people seemed genuinely interested while others still were bored. He tried to mingle and get quotes to drop into the article. He also took several photographs so that he had the basic journalistic intentions covered.

The hatching room was set up similarly to an ancient Greek amphitheater. In the center was a circle of heated sand surrounded by a barrier of rocks. At a few places within the small dune where more rocks and elevated steps like poles that were likely there for the benefit of the human animal keepers who would not be able to tread on the sand or the rocks. There were also two water taps so that steam would be generated to increase the heat underneath the eggs.

Remus had informed Albus Dumbledore and the Weasleys that he would be in attendance at the ceremony. He had kept that little detail from Ginny, though, and he justified his actions that he didn't want to distract her when she had such an important day. It was a lie, of course. He was less worried about her performance with the phoenixes than his own bumbling through their relationship. So he was sitting quietly in the back of the room when the procession of witches and wizards came to stand in front of the birthing sands.

Ginny walked out as the centerpiece of the group of seven, which consisted of three females and four males, one of whom was Dumbledore. Each of the people was wearing white ceremonial robes, but two things set her visually apart from the others. She had no wand in her hand, and her hair was showing brilliant red and tumbling freely down her back except for a few braids here and there. She looked so lovely that Lupin's breath caught in his throat at the sight of her.

The Fire Witch could not see the people who had come to watch. The heating and light at the level of the hatching sands made so that the view of the people blurred into a haze. She only vaguely heard the preliminary speech from the officiant, and that ended in him telling the attendees that they had protective goggles to wear should the heat become too intense for normal viewing. Oddly enough, the seven who would be helping with the hatching did not get that particular item of safety gear.

To make a concession for the noisiness of fire, the movements of all involved were coordinated with deep rumbling bells. After three slow rings, the wizard at the far left of the platform started a red jet of flame from his wand and aimed it at the center rocks on which the three rainbow colored eggs were waiting. At the next sound, the wizard on the opposite side added his jet of flame to the target. When the next sound came, a female witch on the left side added her magic to the growing fireball. The action continued in pendulum motion until it got to Ginny, who stood as the centerpiece of the group.

The other witches and wizards seemed rather stoic about their job, but the young witch began dancing on the sand, which might have been unexpected to some. She moved her body with suppleness and grace akin to that of a martial artist flowing through all her poses. She did an en pointe turn and bent her arms to send forth three sparkling, glowing orbs of energy that went straight to their targets of the eggs.

She bent her head low to the sand, and Ginny rolled her arms forward in supplication. From the edge of the sand where she had her head bowed low, a flame wave erupted out of the ground and rolled to its final destination with the eggs. The eggs themselves seemed to take on a glow as move of this burning energy was added to them.

Ginny's beauty in her dance was enough for Lupin to stand up and take a wizard photo of her in motion with her left hand outstretched to her side and her right arm over her head as she directed more fire toward the eggs so they might achieve ignition. The three-quarter pose she had was enough to show her physical prowess while partially obscuring her identity with her hair and arms covering some of the details of her face. It was the kind of photo, if he got it just right, that would sell a record number of papers.

After Remus took the photo, Ginny seemed to falter and fall to the sand with her hands palm down within it. The other wizards seemed to keep steady at their tasks without her, but the suspicious body posture belied that something was wrong with her, though the werewolf could not know what that was unless he asked her mind to mind. Trying it at this particular point seemed rather frivolous, though, so he refrained from doing it.

Had Remus asked her, she would have told him that the sands were still too cold. The magic they were creating together looked impressive and entertaining enough to those watching, but it just wasn't quite right. The egg keepers kept warning her with bells and short musical melodies to get back up and take her place with the group, and supposedly they knew what was best for the birds. Ginny knew there had been a miscalculation, though. One of the eggs barely had a spark of life in it, and to bring it forth would take the type of intense heat that the others were not prepared to create.

She stood to her feet and took control of the fire dance completely. She did a kick turn to the three on one side of her, and she reached out with her hand to coax the threads of the other magics into her grasp. Once she had them in her left hand, she swayed to the right to seduce the other three pieces of fire magic to come to her. Combining and growing the magic together, she stretched out her arms until she had a glowing orb like a miniature sun in the room with them. She bowed forward and released the fire orb as a gift to the phoenixes that would be born.

When she stood up from her small supplication, Remus saw her smile gently. He also saw Albus Dumbledore looking at her in surprise. It was a look that Lupin had rarely ever seen on the man's face. The other witches and wizards doing the spell together also looked at her as she swayed, this time without the grace of her innate fire dance. Ginny seemed to stumble down, and then she put her hand on the sand again as if waiting for a sign.

Remus stood up again from his seat in the back of the room because he was compelled to get closer to Ginny. His human wizard side was worried for the young woman he loved. Meanwhile, his werewolf nature was rejoicing that _she_ had come, that most fearsome flame entity that had loved him. As he walked slowly closer to her, he allowed his human body to see with his wolfish eyes, and Remus whimpered.

Ginny's internal colors, which had usually appeared to him in various reds, oranges and yellows, were dimmer than normal, but she had changed. She was white with the spectrum potential to become a rainbow. It was intoxicating to see, and he had to have more of it.

The red haired witch was not aware of the werewolf who came to her as a magnet drawn to its pole. She listened instead to the life that was still figuring itself out in the distance in front of her. Her last act had energized the eggs enough that they were starting to find their consciousness. Then she got the slamming crush of hunger and a need for more fires than had already been made. The babies were ravenous and calling to her.

Ginny opened her eyes and looked up as she knew the one thing she had to give them so they could reach ignition. It was simple, really. She just had to have faith in herself that it would work, and she had to be brave enough to take the leap. For three weeks she had purposefully been falling off brooms. It would be just as easy and more than crazy. But something within her assured her it would be enough.

On unsteady legs, Ginny returned to standing. Then with the grace of a mountain goat, she hopped across the sand until she had landed on the tiny elevated steps that rose above and around the central egg hatchery. She kept hopping from step to step until she'd reached the one that was at the highest point she could find while being centrally located to the eggs. The fire orb still burned white orange down below like the miniature star it was created to be, so Ginny could no longer see the eggs. She just knew they were there on faith.

She wobbled on the step positioned at the top of a long pole, standing on one foot with her white skirts being whipped about her by the fire winds. Her brow started to sweat, and her nose started a small trickle of blood as she looked down. And then Ginny fell.

Remus rushed forward to stand by Albus, and he clutched at the older wizard's forearm for dear life. He was breathing shallow and fast as he watched her descent. But then he saw it, and he let all the stress flow away from him. He could no longer see the girl who was Ginny Weasley, but he could still see her energy, this time burning the full rainbow spectrum. She was floating down upon the phoenixes like an angel sent to bless them into heaven.

Lupin let go of Dumbledore's arm, and stepped apart so he could watch her further. If anyone had been paying attention to his face, it would have shown an expression of supreme bliss. He watched as the fire around the phoenixes was engulfed by Ginny's energy. He let out a sigh of pleasure and peace, and only after did it occur to him that others were not so happy to be seeing Ginny's transformation into the energy state.

"What's wrong?" Moony asked Dumbledore with worry.

The old wizard looked at the people watching in the stands and the officials around them. Several of them were arguing back and forth. "They think the girl was a ritual sacrifice. They think they've been duped."

"She's _not_ dead," Remus scoffed. "I can see her. She's _right_ there."

Dumbledore looked at him with yet another surprised expression. "Is that so? She's beyond normal human vision. Even I can't see her now."

Lupin shrugged. "I'm a werewolf. I can always see her."

"Might I..." Albus started as he raised his long fingers toward the other man's head, "use your eyes, Remus?"

The werewolf agreed, and then the old wizard put his fingertips on the younger man's temple. After the connection had been made, Remus could feel Dumbledore behind his eyes. He started off by staring at his own hand, so that there would be a gentle starting point to acclimate the wizard to their temporarily shared vision. Then Remus slowly scanned his eyes up the sand until he rested his eyes on the swirling bright rainbow of flames dancing around the phoenixes.

Dumbledore let out a moan, and leaned into the werewolf as the sight of it made him suddenly weaker. He did not break contact, though, because he didn't want to lose his chance to see what no other human in the room was seeing.

Within moments, the eggs that had surrounded the newly born phoenixes started to crack. The ignited firebirds broke free of their restraints and shot into the air above the hatching grounds, twirling and dancing in triple spirals. They played and darted in and out until they were lured to the front of the sands with the food that had been placed there for them.

Dumbledore reluctantly pulled out of Lupin's mind, and they both went closer to the front to hear the officiant's responses to the audience questions. They had both already heard the beginnings of lies he was telling the audience. On the way there, one of the phoenix acolytes was scurrying past Remus, and the werewolf grabbed him forcibly by the arm.

"I need you to get food and blankets. Bring it down here now!" he ordered.

"But I'm supposed to take care of the birds," he whimpered.

"We have a witch who is going to need critical care soon, and if you don't help, you'll not have long to enjoy your regrets. Do it _now_," he said with a threatening low growl.

The questions from some reporters were about the success of the birthing with many photos taken of the new phoenixes proudly preening behind the officiant. Then a few astute ones started to ask about Ginny.

"What can you tell us about the young witch?"

"Was she a sacrifice for new life?"

"Did she really have to die to make this complete?"

The officiant didn't know what to say and stumbled over all words that could come out of his mouth. Remus strode on to the platform with confidence and pushed the man out of the way.

"I can speak for the Fire Witch," he said, looking down on everyone with a werewolf's disdain. "Her Elemental magic exists, and it is strong. She is not dead. She has moved into an energy state so the phoenixes you see before you could be born. Without her valor, this event would not have happened."

"Who are you to speak for the Fire Witch?" asked one wizard with his journalist's quill poised at ready.

"Remus Lupin," he said. Then he took an opportunity since he was already being free and easy with the information. "I work for the _Quibbler_, and we have had special dealings with this witch. We may have an exclusive interview for you all very soon."

He backed away from the podium while Dumbledore looked at him in concern. "Are you sure that was wise?"

"No," he admitted. "But this is the place where legends are born. If we're going into infamy, let's do so spectacularly. Contact Molly and Arthur, and let them know she is okay. I will stay here with her until she becomes corporeal once more."

After a moment, Lupin shook his head. "That was not something I ever expected to say."

Dumbledore looked out to the sands again where he could no longer see Ginny since he did not have the use of Moony's eyes. "I have seen the magic she has done where she has transformed herself into energy. It began shortly after your last visit to Hogwarts. In all the times I watched her, it was as quick as Apparition. I fear if she stays in the energy state too long, she will not be able to return."

Remus nodded his agreement. "I have faith, Albus. I will wait with her. Clear the area so we can have some privacy, and make sure that boy brings extra portions of food."

"What will you do?" the older wizard asked.

"I will eat. I will write my article, which will be brilliant. I will wait. And then... if Ginny has not returned to me before too long, I will go hunting for her." Lupin then sat down near the sand and dismissed his old headmaster with a wave of his hand.

Albus Dumbledore left the birthing grounds without another word.

###

All over Europe and North Africa, the news outlets started running their articles about the phoenix birthing. The papers with late Sunday editions quickly put some into press to share on the headlines the discovery of such existing and strong Elemental magic. There were also conjecture and opinions as to the nature of the witch's power. Was she even human? Some of the more whimsical sources wrote opinion pieces that dared ask the question if the witch herself was a phoenix who had used a charm to make herself appear human to the masses.

No matter which sources were printing or discussing the articles, the one thing that stuck with all of them was the appellation that Remus had given her in lieu of sharing her given name with the rest of the world. The curiosity of the Fire Witch's identity was aided by the fact that the photos that had been taken of her were of such poor quality as to seem like those of a hoax. The best images were the ones that Remus himself had taken.

Xenophilius Lovegood got Lupin's article and photos by express owl and immediately went to work. He had not expected such a positive turn, but he knew not to miss an opportunity when it came to him. The curious outcry was enough that the _Quibbler_ had to be printed twice to meet the demand, and many other news sources sent owls or tried to make Floo calls to ask to borrow the photograph. It had been the biggest sales boon to the newspaper since his exclusive interviews with Harry Potter over the return of Lord Voldemort.

Elsewhere in England, things were also taking interesting turns. At the Burrow, Molly and Arthur waited impatiently for the news and were quickly assured by Dumbledore who appeared in their Floo that Ginny had been absolutely brilliant and not to believe the reports of her demise. Bill and Fleur had been visiting, and the French witch clapped excitedly for her sister-in-law's success. Then he informed them that Lupin was still with Ginny to make sure she'd come out of it okay.

"He sees her so differently than we do," Albus said with awe. "It is not merely with his emotions, but somehow the werewolf has tapped levels of perception that most of us don't have. He let me see for a few moments, and it was earth-shattering."

"But she'll be okay?" Arthur asked to be certain.

"He seems to think so," the other wizard said before ending the call.

Farther away still in Hogwarts, both Hermione and Luna received copies of their respective newspapers with the reports about the Fire Witch and the birth of three completely new phoenixes. The two witches compared articles while Harry and Ron looked on with interest. One thing that they all seemed to agree upon was that the photos from the _Quibbler_ article were spectacularly good.

"I can almost feel the heat coming off the page as I look at her," Ron said in awe.

"She's beautiful," Harry sighed, and he did not fail to notice the _Quibbler_ article and photo credit given to Remus.

###

On the birthing grounds in Luxor, Remus waited for Ginny long after the sands had started to grow cold. She still burned brightly in her energy state, but he needed her to come back to him. He needed it more than anything because it had moved from want to need. He did not worry. He was just impatient for her to return.

So he sent out his thoughts to her with all the love that he had inside them. If the telepathic link worked through these forms, he hoped she would receive it as the gift he was offering to her. Then he rose from the floor, taking his robes in one fluid motion and casting them aside until he was almost completely naked. He removed the rest of his articles of clothing and then took on his own wildest state of being. Remus became the werewolf that Ginny had always wanted him to be.

Moony saw her and loved her as he always did, and in his loneliness he called out for his mate to return to him. He let out the werewolf howl that reverberated in the room and set the bells in sympathetic motion. He wolf-sang again until the sound filled the chambers to let her know he was there and that she should find him.

The color of the swirling energy slowly changed from the peaceful way it had been to a more curious hue. It reached itself out to find the source until it first found the singing werewolf. Streams of energy started moving toward him like a current of water, blending as more of it coalesced together. He kept singing his song to her until all the energy of her being surrounded him completely.

The werewolf then asked with everything he knew for her to come back to him, to be with him as his most precious above all others. Her energy started to change and darken, finding its way into the visible spectrum of light. A body seemed to form in the light as if something blurry started to come into focus.

As she reached her solid state, taking in a new breath, Remus changed himself back into a man who held her gently in his arms. He moved her delicate body to the blankets he had requested for her, and he wrapped her in them as he waited. He was rewarded after many breaths when she put her gaze on him.

"Remus?" Ginny asked weakly.

"Yes!" he said with a wide smile that almost broke his face. Water filled his eyes as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Where are we?" she asked, her tiredness palpable.

"Egypt," he said softly, looking at her in admiration. "Future generations will wish they could have been here this day, and forever your name will be on lips of werewolves for whom you will be their guiding star."

She smiled drowsily at his poetry, but her eyes were closed as if she would fall into her healing sleep. Ginny murmured, "You are the only werewolf I want, Remus."

"Then it shall be so until the end of time," he said as he curled beside her on the floor in the dark.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric quote is from "Fingers of Love," performed by Crowded House on the album _Together Alone_. This is probably one of my all time favorite Crowded House/Neil Finn-penned songs.

Special shout out to xoRetributionox for being so consistent and awesome with the reviews on this back half of the story. Thank you!


	38. Reconciliation

**CHAPTER 38:  
Reconciliation**

_We are the mirrors of each other  
In a lifetime of suspicion  
Cleansed in a moment, a flash of recognition  
_~Neil Finn

When Ginny next awoke, she wasn't at first sure where she was. She was in a large comfortable bed that was definitely not her own at home or at Hogwarts, and the room she was in was dark. Gentle beams of the moon provided the only light that came to her eyes. There were few sounds around her, but from outside the walls of house she could hear the night animals and the insects making their nocturnal symphony.

Though not completely certain where she was, she had a feeling of safety here despite the fact that she was naked between the sheets. All was well. She could relax and rest more. She was so tired…

###

"Remus Lupin, I want to see my daughter!"

"And a good morning to you, too, Molly," he said with a soft and exaggeratedly patient voice as he lazily leaned against the door frame.

"Good morning, Remus," she said, sounding urgent and put out. "I want to see Ginny. Is she okay?"

"I know she was sleeping before you came pounding on my door, and she might still be if the noise you made hasn't disturbed her rest," he chided. "Would you like to come in quietly?"

Molly Weasley couldn't help but feel like one of Professor Lupin's students might have felt a few years ago. She averted her gaze and came into his home meekly. Remus watched her thinking that he should write this particular experience in his book of days if he had one.

"Now we'll both keep our voices down," he modeled by example, "and speak like pleasant people while you ask me all your many questions. Would you like some tea?"

"No," she said with a shake of her head. Then she changed her mind, "Yes. So tell me what's happening to her?"

"Molly, she's just resting deeply. Her magic is a powerful force that she _can_ control, but when she uses it in the extreme, it drains her. I witnessed it several times while we were with Jonathan. The reason she isn't a werewolf like me is that her magic burned it out of her like a fever taking out an infection."

"So she's going to be okay then?" Mrs. Weasley asked with worried eyes.

"Yes, I promise. I just don't know how long it will take, but a small amount of time and she should be up and taking on the world again," he said.

Molly looked around his small home that seemed more lived in and loved with every time she visited. "But why did you bring her here? Arthur and I would have been happy to take care of her at the Burrow."

"I'm sure you would have," he conceded. "But the truth is I'm a selfish bastard, and I wanted her here with me. Conveniently enough, my portkey only came here. Ooops! So sorry!"

The cheeky smile he gave her told her he was definitely not feeling anything close to sorry.

"I'd like to visit her when she wakes up if I can," Molly said.

Lupin frowned at her disapprovingly. "She's your daughter. I'm not keeping her from you. Don't sound so pitiful. When you come back, bring some of her clothes. I have nothing for her. While I would find her fetching even in a tea towel, I doubt that is how either one of you wants her to receive guests."

Molly was quiet drinking tea for a while, and Remus did not interrupt her with needless words. He liked the calm feeling his home had since he had brought Ginny there. As he slipped his fire witch between the sheets of his bed, he felt something possessive and right about having the woman he loved in his domain. His world felt supremely right, and he was going to enjoy the feeling for as long as it lasted. With his luck, it had the possibility of not being very long.

"There will be one day I will come to you and Arthur and ask for her hand in marriage. Today is not that day, but it will come," he stated before taking a sip of his tea. He was so calm about it as if he was telling Molly the day of the week.

Uncharacteristically, she didn't fight or argue about it. She looked contemplative. "We may have to tell you yes. I have a feeling you wouldn't be interested in 'no' as an answer, but if you do anything to hurt my baby, there is no power in this world strong enough to bring you back from that death."

He smiled at her. "I don't know whether to laugh or be very afraid."

"Fear is always a good response around your intended's parents," she said.

"Well noted, Mrs. Weasley," he said. "There will be some time before Ginny and I are on the same page about things. The last time I spoke to her previous to Egypt was at Hogwarts when everything turned sour. We haven't really had time to clear the air, and that is also why she is here with me."

"And if she doesn't want to be with you?" Molly asked.

He fixed his gaze on her, knowing her meaning to be more than just this particular moment in time. "I'll have to let her go. What's that the poets say? A love that isn't freely given isn't worth having? She's not a possession, and she doesn't need me. But if she wants me and doesn't mind all the problems that go with having me, than that's a whole different ball of wax, isn't it?"

Molly sighed. "It goes both ways, Remus. You're going to have problems with her, too. I never told anyone else this before, but when Arthur and I were dating, I got cold feet before we were engaged. I wanted to see what there was to see to make sure I wasn't missing out on something. Of course we reconciled, but sometimes the path of true love has a detour in it. It will make you stronger if you let it. Or it will tear you apart if you let it do that, too."

She stared at the pattern on the cup before admitting, "I had hoped Harry would be her perfect match. I love that boy."

"I do, too. I don't think he'd believe me right now, though," Remus said.

"You are the only close magical tie he has to his parents. He still needs you. You might try reaching out to him," Molly suggested.

"I'll put that at the top of my do to list," he said without the full measure of sarcasm he could have put into it. She did have a point. What was it with Weasley women being right about things anyway?

Mrs. Weasley looked upstairs to where she imagined Ginny was sleeping and then glanced at the places downstairs that she could see. "You've made some nice changes here. It actually looks like someone lives here now."

He thought to himself that it happened hand in hand with his decision not to live his life in limbo any longer. Remus had never been the kind of person who said aloud every thought that came to his head, so he instead suggested that they take a walk outside so he could show her the progress of his greenhouse. Once they were there, he described the plans he had to improve various aspects of his home and the grounds that surrounded it.

###

The next day, Molly returned to Lupin's home with supplies for Ginny who had still not woken from her sleep. Remus asked her to stay with the girl while he did some specific errands not related to his job.

"What are you going to do?" she asked amiably.

"I'm going to take your advice, actually. I need to go talk to Harry, and while I'm there I should catch up with Albus. We'll have to control the spin of Ginny's new public image," he said. "I'll try to be fast and tell you and Arthur everything when I return."

The wizard departed to Hogsmeade to face his challenges head on. Given the time of day of his arrival at Hogwarts, he knew he could find Harry eating his lunch in the Great Hall. He walked in with a confident stride, and a few of the older students may have recognized him, but no one spoke to him directly.

Smoothly he sat down at the table opposite of Harry, who was sitting to the side of Ron and Hermione. "How much time do you have to talk to me?"

Potter pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose and said, "I don't want to talk to you at all."

Remus leaned forward. "Sometimes a person doesn't always get what he wants."

Harry shot him a green-eyed look of malice. "Like me with Ginny? I wanted her, but now what? Nothing."

"Touché," the older wizard said.

At that point, Ron leaned closer to them to ask, "Is it true that my sister is crazy for you?"

Lupin licked his lips while thinking of an appropriate response. "The last time we talked, she told me she cared for me, but that conversation did not end well. Perhaps she has realized I'm not worth her time. It's within her right to do so."

"Where is she right now?" he asked, full of brotherly concern.

"She's with Molly," he answered before adding with a sharp look to Harry, "at my house."

Potter clutched the fork he had in his hand as if he wanted to stab Remus in the hand with it. "Why do you always take everything that belongs to me? You took my godfather, and now you've taken my girlfriend. Haven't you had enough already!"

Lupin leaned back and did not rise to the bait. After counting a few seconds in his head to bring back the calm, he said, "I'd like to continue this conversation with you but in a place where there are less likely to be gossiping eavesdroppers."

"I'm sure that's because you don't want to admit to the world all the filthy and disgusting things you did to her," Harry accused.

Ron looked between the two, and his hackles came up. "What is he talking about, Remus?"

Potter, answered the question acidly, "He was _with_ her, and I don't just mean holding hands."

Weasley jumped back in his seat, disgusted at the thought of his sister having personal relations with anyone at all. "Oh, that's just gross."

"You won't think so on your wedding night, unless you've already taken the broom out for a test drive," Moony said as he looked not at Ron but at Harry.

Hermione, who had been suspiciously silent up until that point, made her own noise of embarrassment and disgust. "That's none of your business!"

"No, it isn't," agreed Remus. "Just as my 'business' is none of yours."

"How could you do that to her?" Harry asked, not getting up from his seat to go finish the conversation in private.

"Do what? Love her? Loving her is easy as breathing. We both changed while we were gone, and she's the only other person who knows exactly what I've been through. You three know how that is. Your adventure as first years with a mountain troll is a school legend." Remus paused to look at the three friends when he reminded them of their shared and binding experience.

"Being in a relationship with her, though? Now that is difficult, and it's difficult from both sides," he acknowledged. "What's she going to do? Call me her boyfriend and invite me to school dances? I don't really see that as happening."

"Do Mum and Dad know about this?" Ron asked.

"Most of it," Remus confirmed. "I'd been able to avoid discussion of certain details that would be particularly embarrassing for all of us. But thank you, Harry, for bringing down the quality of the conversation."

Harry practically snarled at him but did not bark with that particular bit of jabbing.

"So are you together?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "We have to work that out ourselves."

"Then why is she in your house?" Harry asked.

"Because I want her there," Remus said with a sigh. To Ron he said, "When you and Hermione set up your own home, you'll know that feeling. The other reason she's at my house is that she's still recovering from using her magic. It. Was. Brilliant."

The look on his face changed as he was transported to his memory of the phoenix birth and Ginny transformed into her full energy state.

"She told me I helped her discover her magic. Do you know what she meant by that?" Ron asked, excited about this deviation from the other topics.

"Yes, I do! One of the specific things she remembered doing was heating up a cup of tea for you, so in the first days of learning to control her power, she kept thinking about tea. That gave me the most god-awful tea craving I ever had," he said with a laugh, "but it worked. She just had to think of you, and it helped."

Hermione gave him a confused look and shook her head. "Why would you get a tea craving from that?"

"Who cares about tea?" Harry said, still bitter and seething about the first offense. "You both came back, happy in your own little world with no thought to the rest of us, and then didn't inform people like me, her _boyfriend_, that you two were now a couple? That's a pretty rotten thing to do!"

Remus leaned forward so he could whisper his tirade. "Harry, we weren't happy. There was nothing good about anything she or I endured. If it had never happened, you and I would not be having this conversation. Ginny would be nothing more to me than my friends' pretty daughter who was also dating my other friends' son. But it did happen, all of it.

"I didn't set out to hurt you or steal her away from you. That's what I want you to know more than anything else. It's why I came here today. You are still important to me. You are, Harry."

"I don't believe you," he said full of hurt.

"Lucky for me you don't have to believe something for it to be true. Some things just are," he said. "I'm going to stay in your life, and that's a fact. We have a bond of our own that is separate from the one I share with Ginny, and I'd be a foolish man to let that shrivel up and die. I'm sorry I wasn't better at doing something about it. First it was grief over Sirius, and then it was all the problems that were still in my own head. I've made mistakes."

Before Harry could start a counter tirade about the mistakes Remus had made and how horrible a person he was, Lupin stood up and excused himself to go to Dumbledore's office.

###

At Lupin Lodge while Remus was busy at Hogwarts, Molly was whirling like a dervish all over the man's home. He wasn't by nature very dirty, but she had an urge to scrub and clean and set things in order. It was part of her nature. She had also set out a put of soup for him or Ginny to eat later.

It was when Molly was dusting the few photographs on his mantle, ones of his youth with the Marauders or older ones of James and Lily, that she heard the first stirrings from upstairs.

"Ginny?" she called out as she took a step to the stairs.

"Mum?" the voice answered softly. "Where am I?"

"Remus's house," she answered as she started walking up the stairs toward the master bedroom. "He brought you straight here from Egypt."

Ginny was sitting on the edge of the bed looking as weak as if she had just been through something devastating but still made it to the other side of it. Then she picked at her clothes and noticed that they were her own.

"I put them on you myself," Molly said. "What do you need, dear? There's a loo up on this floor, and I have food prepared downstairs. I can bring up a tray if that would be easier."

The younger witch nodded as she considered her options. "A tray of food would be _really_ nice, mum. Thank you. I need to use the loo."

By the time Molly had returned, Ginny was sitting up in bed and looking longingly out the window as if she'd rather be in the fresh air. Molly set the tray down and then kissed her daughter, telling her it was good to have her back. Then the woman sat down in the wooden rocking chair that was part of the bedroom décor.

"Why am I here?" Ginny finally managed to ask. "I could be at Hogwarts or home. I'm confused about everything. What happened?"

"Remus and Albus both say that when you used your magic, you became too weak, so he brought you back here so not to be disturbed," Molly answered.

"Does that mean he's not angry with me any more?" the girl asked fearfully. "Or has he brought me here so he could tell me up close how horrible he thinks I am?"

"Ginny," her mother said patiently, "talk to him. When two people are in love, fights happen. Love isn't easy just because it's love. It's usually harder, to be honest. If it's worth fighting for, sometimes you fight the world. Sometimes you'll fight each other. I have a feeling you two will be doing a lot of both if you remain together."

The younger witch laughed because it sounded like a reasonable prediction.

"Mum, thank you for everything. You and dad have been really understanding about all of this. I know it's strange, but sometimes I feel Remus and I are two sides of the same coin. We've shared so much together, and you know what? I actually _like_ him. If he were just Remus, your friend from the Order, he'd still be interesting to be around."

"Oh, we're not that understanding. Our first priority is you, and I told him yesterday that if he ever hurt you that I would kill him so dead even _you_ couldn't bring him back," Molly said with a smile at the corner of her lips.

Ginny started laughing, and it felt good to laugh and release the tension that had been within her. Then she asked, "What day is it, Mum?"

"Tuesday today. You were asleep for nearly forty-eight hours," Molly said.

"That's not too bad. My recovery time is getting shorter, believe it or not." Ginny sat quietly again before declaring, "I'd like to take a bath now, please."

"Are you coming home to the Burrow?" Molly asked, somehow connecting that to the place Ginny would take her bath.

"If you're going to make me, that's one thing, but if I have a choice, I'll stay here and talk to Remus. I'll do what you told me to do," she replied.

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I want you home, but I won't force you to be there. If you change your mind or need anything at all, you let us know, and we'll be right here. Your father has been practicing hexes strong enough to take out a werewolf in case that becomes necessary."

Ginny snickered at the thought. "I might have to learn some of them myself. Of course, I haven't tried my bat bogey hex on him yet."

###

Before Remus eventually got home in the early evening, he had to detour by the offices of the _Quibbler_ to submit a follow-up article about the Fire Witch. He and Dumbledore had solidified their plan of attack when they had their conference together. It would be very vague but build up a positive reputation in counter to the darkness that was in the Wizarding world. The thought of this witch could be the anti You-Know-Who. They also wanted to posit that other forms of Elemental magic were possible and an untapped well of potential. Through all this, the personal identity of the Fire Witch was kept private for both reasons of mystique and Ginny's protection.

Xenophilius Lovegood had raved about the sales figures of the papers and how other news outlets had wanted the use of the exclusive _Quibbler_ photographs. When he had sent Lupin to do the article, he had not expected such amazing benefits, and to show his appreciation, Remus would be receiving a small increase in pay and more choice of assignments he wished to take.

"You could be editor one day!" Lovegood said in a fit of praise.

Lupin did not share his dubious feelings with his boss. Instead, he said, "No one is ready for that yet, sir. I'm still learning the trade."

The thoughts of that success were gone as he arrived at the edge of his property and saw from a distance that the house was empty. It had an alone feeling to it like all the life that had been in it had been sucked out of it. This wasn't the normal feeling he got when he returned to his home after having been gone an afternoon. He wondered if Molly had taken Ginny away at the first opportunity, and had he been a parent, he would probably have done the same thing for his daughter.

He walked into his house with his wand drawn. Nothing was out of place. In fact, he could tell that Molly had cleaned and prepared food. Everything was put away as it should be. He went upstairs, and there was no obvious sign of Ginny at all. She was not resting in the bed, but it had been remade with fresh sheets, he noted. The house felt empty and strange without her.

Lupin went downstairs again in search of a note of some kind because it would be the polite thing to do, but he could not find one. He was at a loss, and he couldn't just Apparate to the Burrow and demand Ginny come back with him. He might want to, but she was a free agent and not a possession.

Remus decided to do something else that had become his own way of feeling close to the witch when she was gone away. He disrobed and set his clothing just inside his door. Then he stepped out on four legs so he could walk the property line and see the beautiful thing that she had created for him. No matter what would happen in his future, he would always have this.

His moon transformation had been relatively easy this time. He still contained his human nervousness about the possibility of seeing Ginny, but his werewolf life had become much easier with her presence in it. Gone was the moon madness and headache and mental fog that had always come the day after a full moon. He kept his faculties and realized he enjoyed his life. He was a happy werewolf, and that sense had started to erode the bitterness and hurt that had been buried deep within him since his childhood.

So the wolf-shifted Lupin walked the property following the colored ribbon of defense that fascinated his eyes. He walked slowly through the descending night finding himself stuck in the nebulous time between sun and moon, and as he walked he noticed the color becoming brighter somehow. He didn't understand it, but he kept his silent and stealthy journey to the source.

Then he saw her standing there at a weak point in the magic. Ginny was strengthening it and healing it. Her face looked peaceful as she swayed before the boundary, offering fire directly from herself with an open heart.

His wolf nature took over, and Remus remained on four legs. The primal sense of happiness at her return made him jump and yip in place. He seemed to be doing his own dance as he looked at her, though the idea of a dancing werewolf might have surprised the people who didn't know him. Because she didn't stop to recognize him, he sent out a wolf's howl that could hold the emotion his words could not always say. It was filled with the sounds of love, satisfaction, worry and even loneliness.

Ginny came to herself, and turned to her right to see Moony standing there looking at her. Sitting down on the ground, she said, "It seems you have found me."

He walked closer to her, and when he was almost close enough to touch he crawled on his belly until he put his head in her lap. The pure canine affectation of it all made Ginny laugh. "I wonder if Jonathan's little book about werewolf mating rituals had something that mentioned this."

She put her hand on his head and rubbed between his eyes and around his wolf ears in the silence. She didn't really want to speak yet, so this strange partnership they had worked for her just fine. Her comfort with him in his werewolf form was something she would never had predicted back when his furry little secret had been made public, but that could be said of most of their relationship.

Ginny would have been content to stay outside longer, but her need for food overrode that decision. She stood up to walk back to the house, and then Remus followed her while remaining in his wolf form.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric quote for this chapter comes from "Whispers and Moans" performed by Crowded House on the album _Woodface_.


	39. Bond of Union

**CHAPTER 39:  
Bond of Union**

_Seven worlds will collide  
Whenever I am by your side  
Dust from a distant sun  
Will shower over everyone  
_~Neil Finn

The witch walked across his threshold as if she owned the place, and in certain parts of Moony's heart she did. It just wasn't official yet. She went to the kitchen with authority while he waited at the door and took his two legged human form once more. He dressed in the clothes that he had stowed there and then walked to his kitchen where she was warming soup on the stove.

"How are you feeling?" he finally asked.

"Much better, thank you," she said as she scurried about putting things together. "Your bed is comfortable. I'll grant you that."

"It's new," he said. "It's one of the first things I bought when I got paid from the _Quibbler_. I needed some luxury in my life."

"I approve," she said as she placed some things before him.

"I thought you'd left," Remus blurted when she got close enough. "I hadn't had a chance to talk to you, and then you were gone."

"No, I'm still here," she said as she slipped into the seat opposite him.

"Ginny, I'm not… I'm not always going to get it right," he said slowly, measuring his words. "This is hard. There are so many reasons not to move forward."

She looked down and blushed in embarrassment. Then she went to the stove to get the soup that had finished warming. After portioning out two bowls, she came back to the table and sat with Remus, eating her food in silence. By unspoken mutual agreement, this conversation when it did happen would be verbal only.

"I still loved Harry," Ginny admitted. "I never stopped, really. That's why it was so difficult for me and so easy to make mistakes. I'm just so sorry. Sorry for him. Sorry for you. And sorry for me, too. I don't like feeling this way."

Remus took a deep breath and said, "Ginny, you are free to choose whoever and whatever you want. You don't _owe_ me anything. We don't have to be us even though it was really nice for a time."

"But what if I _like_ who we are?" she said on a sigh. "It's like… you're the only person in the whole world I don't have to hide my true self from, even the bad stuff. I don't want to let go of that."

"You don't have to! I'll always be in your life, and I'll always care," he said.

Ginny stood up to put her empty bowl in the sink. "I know that my mum and dad say they are each other's best friends. Even Ron and Hermione are each other's best friends, but somehow being _only_ friends with you feels like a consolation prize, and not a very good one at that. If that's all that you want from me, I'm not going to stand here and beg you for more. You think I'm too young to know what I want, but even I have my pride."

The red haired witch looked resolved and walked passed him to go upstairs to get her bag. She had finished healing the break in the fire energy when he found her, so she could just go without a backwards glance. If he neither needed her nor wanted her, there was little use of drawing out the pain any longer. She would learn how to cope because that's what she always did.

Remus felt dumbfounded by her little speech, and he didn't snap out of it for a few seconds until he heard her already upstairs. "Wait! What are you doing?"

He got to the upstairs landing and could see shadows of Ginny's movement in his bedroom. As he got closer, he saw that she was stowing the few possessions Molly had brought for her back into a travel bag. He raced forward to put his body in the doorframe so she couldn't pass.

"You can't go!" he said a little breathlessly.

"I can go wherever the hell I want to," she said with a flaming wave of her fingers as she looked away to survey the room in case she might have forgotten anything.

"Don't leave!" he said plaintively.

Ginny finally looked at him, seeing the face she had learned to love in the last few months, and she dared not hope for anything yet.

"I told you I get things wrong," he said before he could get started.

Remus came into the room holding his hands out for her patience as he walked over to sit in the rocking chair that was near the foot of the bed. She looked at him warily but sat down on the edge of the bed to listen to whatever he might say.

"Life is full of surprises, you know? When I was at Hogwarts, there was be a time when I would go after anyone who gave me the least bit of attention. I didn't care. Then Sirius happened. I loved him, and even when we broke up I still loved him underneath it all. I never expected another chance with him after he escaped Azkaban, and I never expected that I'd learn to truly love someone else ever again after he died. To be given such a gift twice in one lifetime is more than one man deserves," he said as he stared at the floor through his fingers.

§Technically, you've had two lifetimes,§ Ginny thought without saying it aloud.

He glanced to her, and then dropped his eyes quickly to the study of the floor. "But I'm still just one man, and I am one who loves you even though it makes absolutely no sense that I should. And I am incredibly selfish. I don't want the consolation prize, either. I want _everything_, the joy, the sorrow, the whole kit and kaboodle. I want that with you, and damn the rest of the world."

Ginny did not speak. She swallowed a few times and fought to keep her composure. Then she got up and with her bag in hand walked across the room while Remus looked at her with unconcealed worry. She set the bag down on the floor in front of the armoire before turning to face him.

"I accept the terms of your surrender," she said softly.

"Well…" he said slowly as it registered that Ginny wasn't about to leave him. "Shouldn't we do something to celebrate the end of negotiations?"

"I have a few ideas," she stated nonchalantly, while feeding several images in his mind.

As he was going through her list, he paused at one point to say with a laugh, "That one we'll definitely have to try!"

"What about this one?" she asked while sharing a particularly scandalous thought.

Remus laughed heartily out loud while clapping his hands and stomping his foot in appreciation. Then he laughed some more because it felt too good not to give in to the relief.

"Come on," she urged. "Let's test this one out. I've already been here, but not with company."

He allowed her to pull him closer to the bed, and he could have continued the banter and play. They both seemed to enjoy that, but he decided to go with heartfelt as he kissed her as silly as he'd wanted to nearly every time he saw her.

"No, I didn't forget how good you were at doing that," Ginny said with a gasp once he let her up for air.

"Good at a few other things, too," he said.

"You should remind me," she said and then paused to look up at his face, her emotions laid bare for him to see.

"Gladly," Remus replied while he stared down into her eyes.

###

After Remus reminded Ginny a few times of the things he was good at doing, they sat in the bed talking. She was propped up with her back against the pillows while he was stretched out on his stomach and leaning on his elbows with the gentle light of the moon shining all over him. It picked up the grey in his hair and the silver in his eyes as he talked excitedly with her about future plans. She noticed, too, how great his bum looked under the sheet that barely covered him.

It was a nice feeling, being here with him like this, and it was better than anything at Three Bears Cottage. This was his home, their future home together, and Ginny couldn't think of a better place to be.

"Thomas Arthur and Sarah, I think," he said as her attention was brought back to his words instead of his tempting backside.

"I'm sorry. What?" she asked with a laugh.

"Wolfgang's brother and sister. He's got to have a brother and a sister or he'd get lonely," he said logically.

"We wouldn't want that," Ginny said indulgently. "Later, though. I have dreams of my own to achieve, and I'm going to do them. I'll go back to Hogwarts and finish with brilliant scores on my NEWTs. I still have Bill's record to meet if not surpass. I'll be captain of the Quidditch team, too. After that, the world is wide open, and I'm going to take it on."

"I know you will," he said proudly. "And I'm so relieved you're going back to school. I couldn't stand the embarrassment of parading you around on my arm only to have you be as ignorant as a lump of coal. What's everyone going to say? 'Oh, he's only with her because she's an easy woman.'"

"I _know_! That would be so embarrassing for you. About as much as them thinking I'm with you only because of your big... teeth," she teased with a giggle.

"Ah, you with the werewolf jokes," he said with a laugh before he got distracted. He looked for a moment as if he could hear something, and she had no idea what it was.

"What is it?" Ginny asked him as his head turned from side to side in a very canine affectation.

"It's after midnight. April fifteenth. A brand new day," Remus said excitedly as he started to get off the bed.

"Yes, I guess it is," she said, still wondering what he was after. "What are you doing?"

He had been looking through the armoire for something, and he pulled out a long cord that ended in tassels. He pulled it to test the strength of it, and he had a rather pleased expression on his face. Ginny, on the other hand, was confused.

"What do you plan on doing with that? Tying me up?"

Remus laughed. "Yes, but not the way you think. Let's get married."

For once in her life, the young Weasley was too shocked to speak. "Are you joking?"

"Not at all. It wouldn't necessarily be a legal ceremony, but it would be real. We would know, and it would take us through until after you finished your education and your family realized what we have is simply not going away. Then, if you want, we can do something obnoxiously extravagant and utterly disgusting," he said sounding completely calm and logical.

"Wow, you make obnoxious extravagance sound so appealing," she said, hiding her laughter behind her fingers.

"It is if it's the right person," he responded. "So, Ginevra Molly, will you marry me?"

Ginny sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She tried several other stalling tactics before, her laughter burst out. "Hell, yes!"

"Good. Think of something nice to say. We're going outside," Remus said as he took her hand and headed toward the stairs.

"We're going outside totally naked like that's some normal thing for us?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course, it is, but this time it's actually spring instead of winter," he replied sounding rather pleased with it all.

###

At the two walked outside naked under the moonlight, Remus explained his intention of performing a spontaneous handfasting. It had developed from an old tradition when the Magical and Muggle world was much closer than it was now. Some took it as a pledge for a year and a day. Others could take it as the pledge for always. No matter what happened, just as with a legal ceremony, there was no one right way to do it. They could make it be whatever they wanted it to be.

"What's the cord for?" Ginny asked.

"To bind our hands together as we say our vows," Remus said with a smile.

He brought them to a small clearing within the trees on his property. The moon shone down with the silvery cast that made the moment seem dreamy and ethereal. Then Remus instructed Ginny to take his hand while he wrapped the cord around their clasped hands.

"You'll have to pull the other side to tighten it," he noted as he did the same to bring the material around them.

"Ready?" he asked, sounding the slightest bit nervous.

Ginny nodded, and waited for him to take the lead. She hadn't a clue what she would say to him as vows here, and she sure hadn't paid attention to Fleur or Hermione's preparations.

When Remus was finally ready to speak, he fixed his silver gaze on Ginny so she would know he meant every word. "I, Remus John, between the earth and the stars and surrounded by all that stands eternal witness, pledge myself to you, Ginevra Molly. I will love you all the days of my life and even when I no longer have breath within me. I give myself to you freely and without reservation."

She opened her mouth slightly. His words were simple in a way, but pretty. That was who they were, a pair of lovers standing above the earth and underneath the stars. As she thought of her own words in light of what he had said, she kept her eyes trained on him.

"I, Ginevra Molly, take you, Remus John, with a pure and happy heart knowing that we two are one. I will give my love and my life to you as long as this universe will allow it. So say I before the earth, the moon, the stars and all that stands eternal witness."

When she finished, she smiled and looked down. She felt a giddy mixture of elation and relief. Ginny stepped forward to him with their hands still bound between them, and she kissed him to complete the ceremony.

"Well, wife," he said saucily. "Let's go inside. Before your parents demand your return, I have an idea of something to do when the sun rises to mark this occasion. It will be special for just you and I, but that's how a life together works."

"What could it be?" she asked, laughing as they walked sideways back to the house since their hands were still bound.

"Let's just say I'm going to keep a promise I gave you during a much darker time," Remus said with a grin that Ginny was starting to recognize as him being up to something rather special.

###

When they woke up in the morning, Remus was running at a frantic pace while Ginny watched him in amusement. "I have no idea what you're doing, so why should I get myself worked up?"

"You'll love this! I promise," he said as he made them breakfast and checked his papers. "Okay, I'll have to stop by the newspaper office, and then we've got to go to London. A quick side-step into Gringotts, and then we're off to our destination."

"And where would that be?" she asked as she ate a forkful of eggs. "Are you taking me to Istanbul?"

"Close!" he said as he pointed with his fork. "But actually, not very close at all. At least, closer to here than there. What do you think of the Netherlands in the spring?"

"The Netherlands?" she said in disbelief before she remembered what he meant. "Ooooh!"

"Yep," he said, popping the final P sound.

When they were prisoners with Jonathan, Remus had promised to take her to see the Escher Museum in The Hague. Now that it was their wedding day, however informal, that's where he was doing to take her for their honeymoon.

"You were right. It won't matter to anyone else but the two of us," she said and looked at him with warm eyes. "It will be perfect."

"I certainly hope so," he said as he got up from the table, barely done with what he had on his plate. "We need to leave quickly, though, because the faster we go, the faster we can avoid your mother. I love Molly, and I have to share you with her and Arthur. But this one day, I want it to belong to only us."

"Agreed," she said while quickly finishing her own breakfast and then racing upstairs to put on a dress that would be suitable to wear on their first trip together.

When she came back down stairs, he stared at her a while admiring the simple and fresh look of her, as if she were a physical embodiment of the spring day they were about to enjoy. "I've rarely seen you in a dress. It's a nice look."

"It seemed appropriate," she said as she smoothed her hands over her nervous and excited stomach.

###

In London, Remus sent off a hastily scribbled owl post to the Weasleys that Ginny was fine and that they were taking the day out for an unspecified activity. He also invited them to come to his home the next evening for a nice meal. He planned on having the big discussion with them about their future plans together. Ginny also knew that to run smoothly, she would have to go back with her parents until she returned to Hogwarts on the following Monday.

That work done, the pair stopped by the branch of the _Quibbler_ offices to check in with Lupin's work assignments in the wake of the breaking Fire Witch story. As they walked into the office together, a few of the people gawked at Ginny. She knew Luna's father was the editor of the paper, but that was as far as her personal experience had gone until a few days ago.

"Is this the Fire Witch? Is she here for her exclusive interview?" one of the other reporters asked while hopping about with the twitchiness of a new rabbit in a petting zoo.

"Yes, actually, she is," Lupin said as he got an idea. To Ginny he whispered, "If we do this quickly, I won't have to spend your remaining time with me writing."

So Ginny posed for a photo that would go on the cover of the next big paper. It was a shot of her back with her glorious red hair tumbling down. She had a partial profile, and her arm was lit with a multi-colored flame gauntlet. Then Remus asked her five easy questions and took a half hour to put together an article on the new Elemental witch that all of England wanted to know about.

"Those questions reminded me of the quick interviews with my favorite Quidditch players. It doesn't really amount to much, but it keeps them in the public eye," she observed.

"Exactly!" he said as he finished his article. He took the camera off his desk and said, "Let's get one more photo before we go. Something to put on the mantle."

The pair walked outside under the sunlight, and Remus set up the shot to take automatically. They did a serious pose before they started laughing and pulled many funny faces. It was the last photo that Lupin eventually chose to put in the frame and place on the mantle. In the picture, they both looked quiet but amused. Ginny's red hair danced wildly as it always did, and Moony's eyes gleamed with silver devilishness that she enjoyed. They looked like they belonged together.

###

The next place on the agenda was a stop at Gringotts, and that left both of them with a feeling of darkness since Jonathan had worked there with the Muggles. It was his types of services that they needed, and Ginny had an irrational fear that she'd somehow see him again if she went inside.

She did see one unexpected person in the form of her older brother Bill who came upon the both of them quite by surprise.

"Hi, Bill! Do you think Fleur would like to have lunch with me tomorrow? I'd really like to catch up with her again before I go back to mum and dad's," she said, sounding rather chipper now that she saw her brother.

"What are you two doing here together?" he asked in surprise. Then he saw how Ginny clutched Remus's shoulders and held him happily against her as she spoke. "Oh, you're here. Together. Con…gratulations?"

"Thank you," she said brightly.

Lupin's smile flitted across his face. "At least you won't be surprised if she and I dance together at Ron's wedding."

"Did I miss out on something while you were gone?" he asked.

"No more than most," Remus said.

"All in good time, Bill," Ginny said quickly. "And don't forget to give Fleur my message. I'm in need of more girl talk."

"The last time you girl talked to my wife, she was sitting in front of the Floo for hours!" he teased. "But I think I can share her a little bit. Just make sure to give her back when you're done."

"Absolutely!" she said with a mock military salute.

"So what are you crazy kids off to do?" he asked. "Or is it a secret?"

"Why I am being a perfect gentleman," Remus said as he slipped one hand around her waist and pulled Ginny closer to him. "I am taking your sister to a museum. It's a very polite, proper, and well-educated thing to do."

Bill looked at the expressions of mischief on their faces. "You two look like you're up to no good."

"I do solemnly swear," Remus said with his hand in the air as if he was making a scout's oath.

"Oh, god, Gin. I can't wait to see how mum and dad react to this," he said, putting his hand on his face. "But I've got to get back to work. I'll have Fleur send you an owl later so you can figure out your girl time."

"Thank you, Bill!" she called after him. "Love you!"

###

Once the couple had finished their transactions at the bank, they left to take Wizarding transport to The Hague. Thankfully there were regular transports to and from London for all parts of the world, and that city was no exception. When they at last were able to go, they arrived to the side of a busy street near where the museum was located.

Remus looked left and right, and then said to Ginny, "Give me your hands."

She gave him a curious smile, and though she started to ask him what he was about to do, she decided to trust him. So when she held out her hands to him, he put one to rest on his shoulder and the other clasped lightly in his. Then he proceeded to lead her in a frolicking dance down the side street toward the museum. Ginny nearly fell over with laughter when he finally let her go, but then she was too much in awe of the big mural in front of the old palace where they stood.

"Wow… We're here," she said and then looked at his face. She wanted to tell him how perfect and thoughtful his idea was, but she decided to be a woman of action instead.

"Come here, husband. You have something on your face," she said

"What is it?" he asked as he reluctantly turned away from the mural that had also entranced him.

"My lips if you're lucky," she answered and gave Remus a big kiss before they both walked in to enjoy the museum that had been one of the touchstones for them while they had been in captivity.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter is from "Distant Sun" performed by Crowded House on the album _Together Alone_. To me, this is one of the best love songs ever written, and it totally embodies the Remus and Ginny I have written in this story.

The chapter title came from the name of one of the Escher paintings that they first looked at together in chapter 11.


	40. Declaration of Intent

**CHAPTER 40:  
Declaration of Intent**

_Come with the wind, Time to begin  
There'll be no compromise  
When all you want is wrapped around you  
_~Neil Finn

When Remus and Ginny returned to Lupin Lodge in the evening, they found two owl messages waiting for them. Fleur would be happy to meet Ginny for lunch the following afternoon, and Molly and Arthur would be coming for the meal the next evening.

"It looks like your dance card is full tomorrow, Miss Weasley," he said as he looked at the notes.

"Well, Mr. Lupin, this is the price of popularity, but I like doing my most important dances with you," she said.

"What a smooth talker you are. I like it," he said.

She had a contemplative look as she surveyed the downstairs. It was so much nicer than it had been the day her parents had put them both on his sofa like they were naughty children. This was no longer merely his home but one for the both of them and their future children. On the day of her secret marriage Ginny took time to realize she was content enough in her present with Remus as her mate.

A mere six months ago, such a thing would have been beyond all imagination, and Ginny had a good one when she needed it. He had been right, though. Life was definitely full of surprises, and not all of them were bad.

"So what do you want to do now that we're home?" Remus asked as he sat beside her.

After thinking about it a moment, she replied, "You need to use that pretty wolf voice of yours and sing me a song."

"Well, come closer so this can be an intimate performance," he said as he pulled her into his arms. Then he thought of a song and started singing.

Yes, Ginny thought, things were right in her world.

###

At noon the next day Ginny used the Floo that was now working in Lupin's home to go to the Leaky Cauldron to meet Fleur. Remus was working from home and was planning on preparing the meal for Arthur and Molly. Knowing well the value of close friends, he encouraged her to enjoy her lunch date with her sister-in-law.

Ginny blew him a kiss and stepped through the Floo to arrive in London.

As she walked into the pub, Tom heartily greeted her with praise about how beautiful she had become and how it had been so long since he had last seen her. She was polite and gracious with his attention, and then finally he showed her to a booth where she could wait for Fleur.

When the blonde witch walked in, she turned the heads of the people in the bar who hadn't already turned to see Ginny's entrance. When she slid into the booth opposite her, the red haired witch remarked, "I think we just made this the most beautiful booth in the entire place."

"But of course," Fleur agreed. "I can not stay long, but I was excited to get your owl. There are so many things happening!"

"I can tell you about the phoenix things on Saturday if you like. That way I can tell the whole family at once. I think mum might have another gathering," Ginny said. "But I really wanted to tell you something that you _must_ keep secret, and I won't be able to talk about it with you when the rest of the family is around. This is a real sister thing, and you wouldn't tell one of Danielle's secrets, would you?"

"Of course not!" she said. "Does it have anything to do with a certain wizard my husband saw you with yesterday?"

The younger witch's eyes twinkled. "It does! Fleur, we exchanged vows under the moon. By an ancient rite, he and I are now married. This secret I am only telling you, and I definitely had to tell someone."

The French witch reached across the table to put her hand on Ginny's. She then studied her expression. "Does he make you laugh? There are many kinds of men, but can he reach your heart so you are laughing and happy?"

"Yes. It is a good match. Strange, but good. I like just being in the same room with him even if we're not doing anything at all," she said. "Does that sound silly?"

"So you are not having sex on every piece of furniture?" Fleur teased with the mischievous light shining in her eyes.

"Well, I didn't say _that_…" the younger girl demurred. Then she couldn't help bragging, "He's really good!"

"I should hope so. He is old enough to have flown his broom a few times," she replied with such a comical expression that Ginny fell into a fit of giggles.

"I can't really talk about _that_ with anyone else, either. Maybe I could, but I just don't want to," she confessed. "It's a private thing. But yes, I know him well, and I love him enough that the rest of the world will see me wait for him."

"Congratulations," Fleur toasted with her glass. "May all your life be filled with happiness."

Ginny picked up her own glass and offered a counter-toast. "May the same be said for you and Bill."

"As we are talking about weddings, can you believe the one for Ronald is only two months away?" the older witch asked.

"At least I have a place to go when it's my turn," Ginny said thoughtfully. "We're still getting ready for everything for that one, and they'll be living with mum and dad for a while, I think. Maybe while they are there, I'll be able to go see Remus more freely."

"It is possible. You could always find an excuse to visit me, and maybe sometimes you will actually do it," she suggested.

"That's devious. I love it!" the redhead enthused.

Fleur smiled at Ginny. Then the two sisters-in-law placed their orders and did as much eating and talking as they could do before the blonde witch had to return to her job. Ginny impulsively hugged her before they parted company. It was getting so much easier to be around Fleur that she was sorry she had ever once thought of her as Phlegm.

###

Upon Ginny's return to Lupin Lodge, Remus had all the food preparation under control. Though the evening meal would be still a few hours away, he didn't want to leave anything to chance. Ginny, on the other hand, was feeling restless and decided she wanted to go outside.

"Well, maybe I'll go with you," he said. "But I've got to finish another article that Xeno sent to me to work on while you were out with Fleur."

"Get your pen and quill, and let's go!" she said, leading the charge into the fresh air.

When they were outside, Remus spread his work on the grass while Ginny danced through her fire poses beside him. It was distractingly fascinating, but he asked questions and took notes in case he would have to provide another impromptu article about the witch enigma who was now his wife.

"I've been thinking of ways to transport myself within fire," Ginny said. "In the Floo we move between a set of connected fires. When people Apparate, they move where they wish. So I was trying to combine the two. I could create fire at two separate points. Then I could enter in one place and then come out the other. Unfortunately there's one draw back to that plan."

"When you arrive, you won't have any clothes on?" he asked as he looked at her curiously.

"Right! I'm not shy, but I don't think the world needs an eyeful every time I use my magic," she said.

"I'm surprised the Ministry hasn't cracked down on you for some trumped up excuse of underage use of magic or whatever other straw excuse they have," Remus said.

"I don't think they can track my magic yet. Wasn't that always the problem? You were the only person who was sure of it even before I was." Ginny looked thoughtful before she asked, "Do you think you could find other people with Elemental magic? Do your wolf eyes see those colors, too?"

"I hadn't thought of it," he admitted. "I don't even know right now if I can see color other than yours, but I'll have to pay closer attention to it, especially when I'm in crowds with younger children."

He continued his work with a few interruptions from his wife who came to kiss him or dangle her long hair in his face. That was the way Molly and Arthur saw them when they Apparated near the house. Ginny had been standing above Remus, bent over at the waist while her hair tickled him and he batted at it. It was really rather silly, but he looked young and refreshed as if the clock of his life had been turned back momentarily.

"You two look like you're having a good time," Arthur remarked cautiously as he came closer to them.

"We are!" Ginny beamed as she went to hug her father.

"Since we've been invited to a formal dinner, should your mother and I be worried? Are you dropping out of school?" he asked, knowing his twins had done the same thing.

"Yes, you should be worried. No, I'm staying in school," she said and then went to hug her mother.

Remus got up from the grass and shook his guests' hands. Then they went inside the house to have their meal together.

###

"I didn't know you could cook, Remus," Molly praised after the meal began. "This is quite good. Now I wonder why you didn't help me more in the kitchen when we were setting up the Order headquarters."

"Guilty on both charges. I just never cooked often because it's hard to cook for only one person. It's also hard to cook for many people, and that's where your talents come in handy," he said to her.

"Flatterer," she said with a smile.

"I told you I was guilty," he grinned to her.

Once the meal had completed and the dishes were cleared away, Lupin said seriously, "Now I think it's time we talk and get to the real reason I invited you here. It wasn't just to feed you, though I am pleased you seemed to enjoy it. I want to formally state my declaration of intentions."

Molly looked at him askance. "You told me your intentions two days ago."

"Then consider this follow-up," he said and changed his attention to Arthur. "I plan to legally marry Ginny on November first, the day after she turns eighteen. At that point, she will have graduated from Hogwarts and be within full rights to make legal decisions of her own choosing. That will be a Monday. Not a traditional day for a wedding, but it will do."

Ginny took up the next part of the conversation. "I'm going home with you tonight and will stay at home with you during all school holidays and breaks until I move in to this house after the wedding. I would like to spend some personal time with Remus in the next year and a half, of course, but I'm not going to sneak around or lie to you to do it."

"That's very mature of you," Arthur said with clenched teeth while trying not to bunch his fists together into white knuckled tension.

"Actually, she's given some thoughtful consideration to all of this," Lupin said. "You'd probably be proud of her."

"I'm going to finish school. Sure I could quit and be famous for merely being famous for a short time, but that's not the life I want to have. I'm not a stupid girl. You raised me better than that," Ginny said.

"Good to know," Arthur replied with a clipped voice. Then to Remus he asked, "Do you have any more from that special bottle Sirius gave you? This is the time for it."

The werewolf got up and walked to his cabinet to fetch the bottle. When he returned to the table to pour out the glasses, Ginny refused hers while the three other people took hearty swigs.

"It's not the end of the world, people!" the younger witch said to them in annoyance.

"That's not it. Parents like to keep their children for as long as they can, but they want to run away to their own dreams. It's always the way," Molly said. "We're not sad about this announcement, just about the end of your childhood. You'll understand that better when you and Remus have your own children."

Molly pushed her glass forward to Arthur, and he took the bottle from Remus and refilled their glasses.

§At least she didn't seem opposed to the idea of us having children,§ Ginny thought to her husband.

§Small victories,§ he thought to her as he looked pleasantly at her parents.

"I'm honestly surprised you aren't trying to raise any more objections. Are you two in shock?" Remus asked the Weasleys aloud.

"No, I think this is called denial," Arthur moaned. "I saw this coming that first week."

"You did?" Ginny asked curiously.

"You two don't know how you look together. You're so in love it hurts like I've walked into a room where I don't belong," he said. "I just wasn't ready to see you like that yet."

"Hmmm. There are worse things to be accused of, I guess," Remus murmured.

"We should probably go home now," Molly said after their conversation had eventually deteriorated to nothing.

At that point, Ginny got up from the table and walked over to the chair where she had set her travel bag. She reached across the chair back to the binding cord that still lay across it from when she and Remus had come in after exchanging their vows.

"I'd like to take this with me," she said to him.

He was standing up and putting the drink and glasses away when he looked in her direction. "Temporary loan. You can have it for a year and a half, and then it comes back here."

"Sure," she smiled at him. "I'll leave the dagger with you."

Ginny had left the dagger in the house after her first visit in January, and she set it on the mantle. It was a symbol of both torture and redemption for the two of them. It was an odd memento, but she hoped he kept it. Then she sat down on the flagstones of the hearth as she waited for him and her parents to finish their awkward final bits of conversation.

She looked up and then leaned back into the fireplace when something on her right caught her eye. She looked closely and saw a child's name scrawled into the brick written in very spiky handwriting. The R was recognizable anywhere, but as she touched the brick to wipe away the soot, a different name than her husband's was found underneath it.

"Remus," Ginny called out to him from across the room, "who was Rowan?"

A chill shot up and down his spine for the name he hadn't heard in over thirty years. "What did you say?"

"Rowan. It's written here in the brick," she said while touching it curiously.

He hastily moved past Molly and Arthur to get to the flagstones where Ginny was sitting. He curled up against her back and put his left hand on her waist while peering over her shoulder in the darkness of the fireplace. She added more soft white light into the small chamber so he could see where she was pointing.

Remus reached out his long fingers to the brick, and he let out a small whimper of pain. The expression on his face was nothing Ginny had ever seen before, and she wasn't sure how to interpret it.

"Who was he, Remus?" she asked gently.

"He was my twin brother," he said in a whisper as soft as crackling paper. "He didn't survive the bite."

Then in a rush that he could not control, the memory of that long ago time slammed into his mind, and he ended up broadcasting the entire thing to Ginny. The pain, the confusion, the sorrow. It was all there, and tears ran down her face as she felt it.

"Oh, no," she said in empathy for him as she shifted her body toward him to pull him into her arms. Then, despite the fact that her parents were there and possibly watching, she put her hand to his cheek and kissed his face in comfort.

"I don't... remember him very well, but after he died I always though part of me was missing," he said before putting his hand back on the name that was scrawled there.

Then Remus made a resolved smile and stood to his feet, offering his hand to Ginny so she could stand as well. They looked back at Molly and Arthur who were both watching them. Arthur looked as embarrassed as if he had seen another one of those too private moments he had warned them about earlier while his wife appeared curious.

"I didn't know you were a twin, Remus," Mrs. Weasley said motheringly.

"Not something I really talk about," he verbally shrugged.

"Well," Molly declared with an owl-like turn of her head, "twins on both sides of the family. I suspect we know we'll be getting twins for grand babies, Arthur."

"Hey!" Ginny yelled.

At the same time, Lupin put up his hands to protest, "Not any time soon, I assure you."

Molly gave them her own version of a satisfied smirk, and Ginny thought evil things in her mother's direction. She finally gave up and brought her attention back to the pensive werewolf beside her.

"Will you be okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I... It's been a long time. Even Sirius didn't know I had a brother," he admitted.

Ginny smiled softly at him and then put her arms around his neck to really kiss him in parting. It didn't matter if her parents were watching. She was going to take that one last bit of pleasure before she left his house. Then she stepped away from him and waited with her parents so they could use the Floo network to go back to the Burrow.

###

The family meeting with Professor Dumbledore and Alastor Moody, who insinuated himself into the situation, happened the next evening instead on Saturday. So on a late Friday night, several people trudged to the Burrow to discuss Ginny's Elemental fire magic. Moody had brought his thermal glasses with him, and he kept looking through them at her. That made Ginny perversely want to get closer to him so he could see all her thermal values up close and personal.

Remus walked into the meeting quietly and sat down, but he was greeted quite loudly by Fred, "Moony, old man! What brings you here?"

"The Floo this time, young master Weasley," he said with a wink. "I have some knowledge of Ginny's magic, and as I was there in Luxor with her and Albus, it could be invaluable."

"I really want to see you do something, Gin," George said as he took the spot by her side. "Will you burn something for me?"

"You know I don't clown around and get caught," she said with a flick of her wrist that sent sparks flying to the rim of the cup Fred was about to use. "I save that for you two!"

"Wicked," Fred said appreciatively. He tried to touch it but didn't dare since he could tell it was real fire.

Remus walked over to the twin and said rather proudly, "Watch this."

He put his hand into the ring of fire. It didn't stop the blaze but it didn't burn him, either.

"How the bloody hell did you do that?" Fred asked.

Molly gave him a murderous look at his colorful language, and he tried unsuccessfully to appear contrite.

"I can't burn him any more. Now that he knows that, he's showing off," Ginny said from her place too close to Moody. "Actually, I don't know if I ever could burn him. I'm making an assumption."

"So you're not entirely firepoof," Fred said to Remus.

"But _you_ are," George said as he pointed to his sister beside him.

"Exactly, so as far as I know," she answered.

"I think we're putting the horse before the cart. For the sake of all here, let's start at the beginning, Miss Weasley" Dumbledore suggested.

"In the few months leading up to my kidnapping," Ginny said with a pause as she acknowledged that event, "I had been having fire accidents. I didn't even know it was me doing it, and no one else around me did, either. They just happened and were explained away as fits of temper or things like that. I didn't know Elemental magic could really exist, so I didn't even think of it. It was Remus who figured it out."

At her gesture to him, he took over the story with some editing. "Ginny was bitten by a werewolf. Me, obviously. Put your wands away. This has a good ending. Anyway, when she fought the lycanthropic infection, it seems to have awakened the sleeping Elemental magic. She also set me on fire, which was really a small price to pay. She is no longer a werewolf, but she is... the Fire Witch. Very dramatic, yes?"

"How come you don't have a scar, Gin?" asked George.

"That's thanks to the non-scarification spell my kidnapper gave me. I won't ever have any scars," she explained.

"Not even stretch marks when you have babies?" the other twin asked.

"Fred Weasley, I can burn _you_. Do you want me to try it?" she threatened. Then when he repented she conceded that he was probably right about that.

"Not that we're in a rush for her to have any babies!" Molly said as an attempt to redirect.

"You were the one talking about me having twins last night," Ginny whispered pointedly.

Fleur and Bill were waiting quietly while the twins had asked most of the questions. At that point the French witch started laughing to herself because she knew just who the father of Ginny's hypothetical twins would be.

"Oi! What's wrong with twins?" Fred asked sweetly.

"Nothing," Ginny matched with equal sweetness. "Some of my favorite people are twins."

Alastor Moody was not in the mood for the playful banter. He directly asked, "Did you purposefully burn down that manor house and all the grounds with your magic?"

"I did," she said, looking at him directly in his good eye. Even his moving "mad" eye seemed to be still long enough for her to make visual contact. "I was full of anger and rage, but it was very purposeful."

"That boy died," Moody said, pointing his finger at Remus though he kept his eyes on Ginny. "Do you care to explain that?"

"No," she said, standing firm.

"You know, Alastor, maybe I don't want that particular piece of information brought up every time we meet. It tends to make people feel uneasy," Remus said, "especially me."

Ginny and Moody seemed to be in a staring match because he wanted more details about what happened on New Years Eve, and she was just as determined not to talk about it. She had already mentioned as much as she was going to say when she had discussed it with her parents.

Diffusing the situation, Fleur said, "I want to know about the phoenixes now. This is more recent and much more positive!"

"You mean she didn't tell you all about that during your girl time?" Bill asked her.

"No, I had to wait just like everyone else. I'm done waiting now," she replied reasonably, prompting Ginny for the next part of the story.

"Once I went back to Hogwarts, I was practicing my magic with Professor Dumbledore, and he told me I could get to work with the phoenix hatchlings. It was a fantastic opportunity, but when we were actually doing it in Luxor, the fire wasn't hot enough. They weren't going to reach ignition without drastic measures. So I just fell on them, just like every time I ever fell off my broom, and surrounded them with a living Elemental fire. I stayed burning until Remus brought me back. By that point, all the phoenixes had been born," she said with a modest shrug.

"But Ginny, I still don't understand what happened," Fleur said because her explanation wasn't clear enough.

"She moved into a non-corporeal energy state," Dumbledore explained, the awe of witnessing the event still in his voice. "When I had watched Miss Weasley practicing her fire-based teleportation, I did not anticipate it would result in something so breathtaking. I was only able to truly see her energy state through Remus's eyes, and it was all too brief."

"You look like you've got a body to me," George said as he poked his sister from where he stood beside her.

"I do _now_," she said with a smile.

"Can you do that any time you want to?" Bill asked.

"It's not something I want to try all the time. Consider it magic to be used only under extreme circumstances. It's quite possible if Remus wouldn't have been there that I might have gotten lost," she admitted as she considered it for the first time.

"Maybe," Lupin said, sounding belatedly worried. "Your thoughts weren't there like they normally are, but your colors were. It was still you, but very different."

"Well, I'm glad you've got a good singing voice. At least I knew what to follow," she said fondly, not noticing some of the surprised expressions from the others.

"What's going on between you two?" George asked in confusion as he watched their interplay.

"Some other time, brother dear, but you might want to get used to having him around at holidays," she said with an unflinching brown gaze.

"Mum? Dad?" he asked in alarm, glancing at his parents.

"We already know," Arthur said with a weary sigh.

After a moment the moment passed, Bill asked Ginny, "How about showing us some more of the stuff you can do? We can talk about it, but I'd really like to _see_ it."

"I can do that," she said with a smile and led the way outside.

###

For the outside demonstration of Ginny's power, it was dark enough that the family could see the different intensities of fire that she manifested as colorful fireworks. She also sent an aurora band of flame waving out from her and circling her family to spiral up in the sky. When Fred and George challenged her to a simple game of target practice, the witch aimed accurately and efficiently.

"I expected something much more destructive," Bill said, impressed with her skill.

"I can be destructive. Ask Moody," she replied with a perverse pleasure.

"I thought it was beautiful!" Fleur said as she hugged Ginny.

The family started to go their own ways, but she begged her Headmaster to wait. "I think I should go back with you if that would not be difficult. I have a Quidditch captain who is going to want me back on the broom as soon as possible, and I have a week's worth of class work to do."

After his agreement, the young witch went to give parting hugs to her parents and then stood before Remus. She blushed because it still felt awkward to show him affection in front of others. Quickly in case she lost her nerve, Ginny stood to her toes and pressed a close-lipped kiss to his mouth.

"Bye," she said and ran after Dumbledore so she could return to Hogwarts.

The witch and her Headmaster passed through the Floo and ended up in the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. Together they quietly walked out of the pub down the long road to the school.

"Ginny, I have one question for you, and I realize you may choose not to answer me," Dumbledore finally said softly when they were near the gates of Hogwarts. "How long is it that you and Remus have been able to read each others' minds?"

That was definitely an unexpected question, but Ginny quickly recovered. "Since November."

"Ah. That makes some things make a lot more sense then. Thank you for your trust, Miss Weasley," he said as if he was dropping the subject.

"Please don't mention it," she said with multiple meanings as they stepped onto the school grounds.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric quote for this chapter is from "Astro," performed by Neil Finn on his album _Try Whistling This_.


	41. And the World Keeps Spinning

**CHAPTER 41:  
And the World Keeps Spinning**

_Funny when we move ahead  
Never worry what we leave behind  
Remember what a friend of mine said  
You gotta be kind  
_~Neil Finn

Ginny's return to Hogwarts was filled with interest, confusion, gossip and rumors. Some knew she had been gone while others were as blissfully unaware of her as they had always been. A few of the Slytherin girls said their catty remarks while some of the more impressionable girls in the younger years looked at her curiously. Basically, she was back to typical Hogwarts as far as she knew it.

One of the better by-products of her trip to Egypt and week away from the school had been a reconnection with Ron who sought her out immediately after Quidditch practice. They'd walked near Hagrid's hut for privacy, and he confessed that he had missed her when she was gone more than he tried to let on. He even told her about the piece of her scarf that he still had.

"I should probably give it back to you, but winter's over now. It's not like you'll need it for a while," he joked.

It was the realization that Ginny had returned and yet kept so much bottled up to herself that really threw Ron for an emotional loop.

"Was I ignoring you because of Hermione?" he had asked her with a wincing guilty expression. It was rather sweet in Ginny's estimation, and she assured him he had not shut her out or shirked his brotherly duties.

Once the siblings had cleared the air, she took the time to tell him more about her time away during her captivity and her time back. Ron was being an appropriately attentive listener once he had the chance and the opportunity.

"I don't think I was ready to talk," she admitted to him near the end of her tale. "A lot of stuff I endured was so, so wrong, and Remus tells me I might always have nightmares. I try not to let it get the better of me."

"So you love him? You really do?" Ron asked.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Ginny asked rhetorically. "If I wouldn't be living it myself, even I wouldn't believe it. Even a few months ago I couldn't have even thought about him that way at all. But he saw me through my darkest time, and I got to know the man he really is. I can't imagine living the rest of my life without him."

"That's kind of what he said," Ron pointed out.

"You talked to him?" she asked in surprise.

"He came on Tuesday to talk to Harry and clear the air. Hermione and I were there, too," he replied.

"Was anything really embarrassing said?" she asked, her own wince of preemptive pain showing on her face.

"A few things," he confirmed.

Ginny sighed and shook her head in frustration.

"Harry still cares about you," Ron said. "Maybe you could still be friends. I don't know."

"It was a bad break up, and he's still angry at me. I can't make him like me, you know. Maybe he'll do what lone heroes do and go save the day now. Isn't that what happens in all the stories?" she asked.

"Doesn't mean he couldn't use a friend," Ron said pragmatically.

"When did you get so wise?" she asked with a smile.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but when Hermione starts asking me why I'm acting like such an idiot, I'll have you remind her that I'm wise."

"I can do that," she said as she linked arms with her brother.

It was good to feel close to Ron again. Ginny resolved to spend more time with him together as the school term came to a close. It would be the last that they would have of their mutual Hogwarts experience.

###

Harry seemed to be avoiding Ginny, so whatever his conversation with Remus had been, he was not sharing any of the details with her. He also seemed to be more argumentative toward Draco Malfoy. Their mutual antagonism was no surprise to anyone, but it was so extreme that they ended up in some shared detentions together for Professor Snape. They seemed to be gone for long hours for several nights, and neither one of them discussed it during the day classes, though several heated glares were exchanged across the tables in the Great Hall.

The final game for the Quidditch cup a few weeks later seemed to increase tensions between Gryffindor and Slytherin houses even more than they already were. When the teams were in flight, there were a few balls thrown at Ginny to try to knock her off her broom. While not unusual for the sport, it was done in a particularly malicious way that tiptoed on the edge of the few rules there were. Since the rumor of her fire magic had gone around the student body, it seemed the Slytherin team was trying to provoke her to use the magic on the incoming balls.

Ginny almost incinerated the balls as her instincts for self-preservation were triggered, and once she nearly did a fire teleport to a new location. It was good to know she had that as an option in a truly dangerous situation, but her Quidditch training and flying skill won out. Ginny got safely out of the way while Draco looked at her with a threatening smirk. He then flew up to taunt Harry some more while pointing in her direction.

When the golden snitch was let out, both boys raced for it, and it was nearly an even finish except that Draco's slightly longer reach allowed him to grab the snitch before Harry did. The unexpected upset in light of Gryffindor's favored odds swept through the stands with shock and furor. The party began there and continued to their dungeon while the opponents dragged themselves dejectedly to the locker room.

The mood in the locker room was absolutely devastated, and the team mates could barely look at each other. Though the Slytherin victory had especially crushed Harry and Ron since it was their last student game together, Ginny tried to cheer her teammates by telling them how they were going to work hard and win all the games the next year.

Hobie tiredly asked her if those were orders, and she said, "Directly from Captain Weasley."

He saluted her, and the other teammates who would likely remain also did the same.

After the Gryffindor team went back to their tower, Harry and Draco were arguing again in the hall near the Quidditch practice rooms even though Malfoy should have already been celebrating the victory with his own house. Ginny gave Harry a quizzical expression, but he waved her off while he and Draco continued their battle of words. As she walked away in confusion, she wondered if the pair was trying to get in all the last jabs they could before they would be graduated and rid of each other.

An hour later, Ginny realized she'd forgotten to put away all the equipment as she should have done. Harry was not back yet, but she was more concentrating on cleaning up after herself. She reasoned that she wouldn't be a good captain if she wasn't leading by example. So the young Weasley walked back to the locker rooms, and got shocked by a sight so outrageous she could barely speak.

Harry had Draco pressed against one of the storage lockers, and instead of acting like he was about to punch his face to a bloody pulp, the two boys were kissing. It was angry and forceful, and Ginny was willing to guess it wasn't the first time it had happened between the two.

Potter let Malfoy up for air, and she tried to get out of the way to give them their privacy. Unfortunately, it didn't work, and she'd side stepped into a broom stand, knocking the whole set of brooms to the floor.

"I'm sorry," she said as she shielded her eyes with her hands and used her wand to put the brooms away. "I didn't mean to see anything. I swear!"

Draco, who looked out of breath, drew his wand on her and threatened, "Don't you dare say a word about this, Weasley!"

"Who would believe me?" she asked plaintively and got out away from the two of them as fast as possible.

###

Ginny never did say anything about what she saw, though Harry and Draco watched her like dangerous predators. When the silence had gotten to be too much, Potter asked to talk to her at the astronomy tower.

"Thanks for not saying anything," he finally said after a long silence. Ginny could have taken a nap during the time it took him to tell her that simple thing.

"It's not any of my business, Harry, though I've got to admit I'm really curious how it even happened. Was it a little bit of 'I hate you,' and 'I hate you, too,' followed by 'Come over here so I can hit you with my lips'?" At that last comment, she put her hand in front of her mouth to try to stifle the giggle that was rising up in her throat.

At first Harry was really annoyed with her, and the more he glowered at her, the more Ginny laughed. Instead of walking away in disgust, he eventually cracked and laughed with her at the absurdity of it all.

"Does he kiss better than Cho?" she asked perversely once their laughter had subsided.

"If I say yes, what at you going to do?" he said with his eyebrow raised.

"I'll assume that girl can't kiss," she replied.

After a while when a different, better silence had a chance to surround them, Ginny asked Harry, "So what's going on with you?"

He turned his face and blushed in embarrassment before he even attempted to say a word. Then he leveled a look at Ginny that was understood to be his death threat look if she should repeat any of it.

"When Sirius and Remus were together at Grimmauld Place, I saw them a few times together being personal. I don't think they realized I was even there. I felt really angry about it every time I saw them. I think it might have been jealousy," he said, clearly mortified to have said it out loud.

Ginny had to know for her own bit of mental torture. "Did you walk in on them in the middle of… you know?"

"No, thank god!" he said with a nervous laugh. "But almost."

"Well, I don't know what you're going to do, Harry, but you know Ron would _never_ let you bring Draco as your date to his wedding," Ginny said.

"Who said anything about that?" he replied dismissively. "But he was good for a snog."

"And you might have to go hit him with your lips again?" she teased.

"Maybe," he admitted, though only after quiet had time to settle in.

"Well, I've got some free advice for all it's worth. Maybe you should talk to Remus. I don't know what you're going through, but he'd get it," she said.

"So you _really_ love him?" Harry asked again as if she had been unsure or her mind had changed. "I still can't understand how that happened."

"Says the one who was kissing Draco Malfoy in the locker room," Ginny said dryly, giving him a pointed look.

"Right. Maybe I'll have to be alone anyway. That way I can focus on taking out Voldemort, and he won't have anyone to hurt," Harry said.

"You don't say," she said, trying to disguise the laugh in her voice. It wasn't that the words were funny, only that he mirrored something she'd already guessed at.

Ginny thought of the time and excused herself to go to some activity she had with Luna and Hermione. Granger had asked them to be her bridesmaids, but it felt like indentured servitude as the older girl prepared for her NEWTs and asked them to help her with wedding preparation.

"It makes weddings sound like a pain," Harry agreed as she started to go.

She stopped and shook her head as she thought of her vows under the stars. "They don't have to be."

###

On Sunday, May tenth, Ginny was having yet another of her private practice sessions with Albus Dumbledore. The pride in his expression was palpable. His demeanor toward her had subtly shifted once he was able to see her energy form through Moony's eyes. He allowed a little of his awe to show in small doses from time to time.

Ginny had been curious how the professor had figured out that she and Remus could read each other's minds, but she knew her Headmaster to be keenly observant. Maybe he had just put pieces together as he normally did. She wanted to ask him how exactly he had figured it out, but she also guessed that it was best to let the subject lie if it were to remain as private as she wished.

The telepathy was a strange and wonderful gift she shared with her husband, but it was one of those things that she preferred to enjoy with him without the scrutiny of others. She wanted to do something else with her husband, though, and she thought she could dare ask for permission. At worst, Professor Dumbledore would simply refuse her request.

"Professor, tomorrow night is the full moon," Ginny began.

"Is that so, Miss Weasley?" he asked, acting as if he did not know.

"It is. Since I had the werewolf bite, I am sensitive to the full moons. I don't change, but Remus still does," she said, kicking herself mentally that her smooth talking was rather ineffective.

Dumbledore looked at her over his half moon eyeglasses but did not say anything. He was probably expecting her to hang herself with her own rope, so Ginny rushed on to do exactly that.

"Sir, I'd like to have permission to leave school again, but only for one night so I can go spend the full moon with Remus," she stated as firmly and as calmly as possible.

"Miss Weasley," he started a few seconds later, "I am the headmaster of a school, and the parents of my students expect them to be _in_ the school and not gallivanting all over the Kingdom with a werewolf. Do you seriously expect that this would be a good decision for me to make?"

Albus Dumbledore had made all kinds of decisions, and many of them seemed contained in a wrapper of crazy. What was crazy on the outside usually had some wisdom on the inside. Ginny decided to press forward.

"No, it would not be a good decision, but I ask you to make it anyway. You and I both know the werewolf in question, and I have made wards in his home to protect him. He doesn't need me to be there. I know that. Both Remus and my parents like to remind me that he's been a werewolf for many more years than he's known me, but he's not the same werewolf any more.

"Once he bit me," Ginny continued, "he absorbed a small part my fire magic. It's one of the reasons for our connection. He doesn't even feel disoriented and horrible after the full moon any more. He told me he doesn't have that headache that he used to get."

"So it remains that he doesn't need you," he said as devil's advocate.

"No, but I need _him_, and I want to be there. Full moons can be horrible for me because my latent werewolf nature comes out. Being with him calms me down, and that's true. I just never said it to anyone else before, not even Remus," she admitted. "There's also one other important thing. I _love_ him, sir. He is my present and my future."

"Ginny, if I let you do this once, you will expect to do this every full moon, not just tomorrow," he said. He seemed to be measuring her resolve.

"That's probably true. I will want it." She conceded, "I have no argument against that. I wish I did. I guess you should just forget I asked."

"Miss Weasley, I can't give you permission to leave. That would not please Arthur or Molly. I would perhaps suggest you speak to your brother, Miss Granger or Harry about an interesting incident involving the Whomping Willow and a certain haunted house in Hogsmeade," he said softly as if he'd changed the subject to something completely unrelated.

"You mean the Shrieking Shack?" she asked in surprise.

"Aye," he answered. "Or perhaps you could use your considerable mental talents and ask someone who once used to use it on a regular monthly basis. Whatever you do, I expect you to be in all your Monday and Tuesday classes. That part is final, Miss Weasley."

"Yes, Professor," she answered with restrained excitement before leaving his office.

###

Ginny decided she was not going to ask Remus about the Shrieking Shack because she wanted to surprise him. Hopefully he would see it as a good one instead of the kind that she had heard about where a wife surprises a husband who is at that moment engaged with another lover. Of all the options Dumbledore had given her, she decided to go with her brother since she had more experience manipulating him.

She pulled Ron to the corner of the Gryffindor common room and was playing a trip down memory lane. She got Ron to tell again the story of the time Sirius had taken him to the Shrieking Shack and how they had discovered Scabbers to be a perfectly deceitful Animagus.

Ron enjoyed the chance to tell his sister a story and be the center of attention for once. He added drama and flair in the retelling to maximize the effect of it all. When she gave him excited and interested responses, she was being sincere despite her ulterior motives. The new closeness she felt with him helped reinforce that bond and it was nice to have it while they still could.

Too soon Ron reluctantly begged off to study for the quickly approaching NEWTs, and Ginny left him to it. She had her plan ready for the next day, and since she would be up many hours to accomplish it, she felt the need to do some preemptive sleeping.

###

When Monday came, Ginny's classes passed with tedium. She chatted with Colin in Transfiguration, and that class went marginally better. The subject of Elemental magic came up again, and several students swung their heads in her direction. Professor McGonagall admitted that she, too, was curious about the magic that Weasley possessed. While she had heard about it eventually, she had not knowingly been a direct witness of it.

Luna added her proud opinions to the group since it was her father's newspaper that had most of the coverage about the Fire Witch. She reminded people again that much of the outlandish and unbelievable things from the _Quibbler_ were, in fact, very true.

"Would you like to see it?" Ginny asked the group tentatively, wondering if this was how Harry felt with the fact that he was a parselmouth.

Upon receiving permission from Professor McGonagall, Ginny stood up at her table and opened her hand. Above it, she made a small ball of fire appear. Then with her other hand, she did the same. She threw the two balls into the air and added a third so that she had the appearance of a juggler. She threw the balls for a while and then made them disappear.

"Well, that's not very impressive. I can do that," one of the Ravenclaw boys told her before trying to create a fireball himself.

Several other students in the class tried to do the same thing, and Professor McGonagall looked on them with a worried expression.

"I don't want them to set fire to my classroom!" she confessed to Ginny.

"Not to worry, Professor," she said comfortingly. "Of course, I can start fires, but I can also put them out if I need to."

That was put to the test when sweet and well-meaning Colin bumped into one of the other students who accidentally dropped the fire attempt on one of the girl's robes. It started to burn easily. Ginny waved her hand dramatically, and all fires within the room, even the ones on the candles, stopped.

"Incendio!" shouted one of the Ravenclaws, aiming the spell at a candle.

Ginny immediately snuffed it out so the candle couldn't spark into life. She gave a little smirk of triumph, but it was not long lasted as others tried to do the same. Her fire suppression on the quote room was tested to the extreme, but not broken. Finally, when McGonagall said the demonstration was over, Ginny lit all the candles to blazing without breaking a sweat.

When the students tumbled out of the classroom after the lesson, it was all they could do not to talk about the magic they had seen. Ginny looked forward to the few hours that remained before she could escape to spend the moon with Remus.

###

Approaching the Whomping Willow was always a difficulty, but Ginny came prepared. She had a small rock in her hand so she could hit the knot if she needed to keep her distance. She was going to try to use bravado to convince the tree to treat her well since she had the power to burn it down if it ever did come to that.

The tree was not convinced, and Ginny could not in good consciousness harm it. So she aimed the rock at the knot, hitting it on the first try. With relief she made her escape into the secret tunnel, out to the shack, Hogsmeade and then Remus beyond that.

When she stepped through the Floo in Lupin Lodge, she knew that Remus had already moon shifted. She could feel the change all over herself as if she still remained a werewolf. Ginny took a moment to look at the home without Remus inside it, and she came across the photo he had chosen from the day of their secret marriage. The two people in the frame smiled out at her with such joy. She wanted a copy of the photo for herself, but she would not put it up at school or in her parents' home. Perhaps things were just as well as they were.

Ginny took a small blanket and some of the dog toys she had threatened giving him, and she went outside to find the werewolf. She called to Moony with her mind, and she sent fire sparks racing around the property until she could find just exactly where he was. As she walked to the hill behind the house, the tawny werewolf came out of the underbrush to introduce himself to her.

"Hello, Moony," she said aloud before bending low to the ground and surrounding herself with a shield of flame so he would have no doubt the it was her who had come to him.

The werewolf seemed to be happy somehow, and he kept looking at her with his shrewd silver eyes. Ginny walked after him into the forest and they stayed together all of the night until the point at which she could no longer stay awake. Then the Fire Witch put on the ground the blanket she had brought with her and got on it to go to sleep. The werewolf protected her by wrapping his body around hers and keeping watch over her until morning.

When the light of the sun did come, Ginny started to stir first. She sat up to stretch her body, and she saw the werewolf who was with her. He watched her intently, but he also seemed to be listening as if he could hear in the sound of the planets when he would be able to take his human form again. Then in an instant his body shimmered away from the one covered with fur to one of normal human flesh and bone.

Once he found his voice again, Remus asked, "Ginny, what are you doing here?"

"I came to take advantage of a poor, defenseless and very naked werewolf. Do you happen to know of one?" she asked coquettishly as she started trailing her fingers across his skin.

"All I can give you is naked and willing," he said as he responded to her touch.

Never in his previous experience had he been able to share something so intimate right after his change. Somehow it made the experience that much more deliciously mind muddling. He surrendered without much of a fight as Ginny took the lead to ride him until they both shuddered in satisfaction.

"That… was nice," he said after several deep breaths.

"I thought so, too," she said as she kissed him, her fingers not leaving their delicious torture of his skin. "I can't stay very much longer because Dumbledore made me promise I wouldn't miss any of my classes. I think it's the only way I can make the full moons pass without notice."

"Oh, I noticed," he said throatily.

"Maybe you should notice me again before I have to go," she said with flirtatious laughter.

"Well," he said as he sat up, "sometimes a person only has time for a quick notice, and other times he might have to take a real long look to make sure he noticed every detail just right."

They both laughed at the banter. Then he asked, "How is everything back at Hogwarts?"

"Classes are fine, and it's all moving so fast. It will be time for the wedding soon. I think Harry is going to stay with us before he goes into his Auror training. He's learning not to hate me any more, so that's progress. Of course, I think it might be because I caught him snogging a certain blond after the Quidditch Cup. He might have moved on."

"Who was he kissing?" Remus asked, wondering if it might have been that dreamy girl in Ginny's year who had gone with them to the Department of Mysteries.

"Draco Malfoy," she answered, holding in the laughter that she felt bubbling up inside her.

After Remus verified that Ginny had not made up the story, he started laughing. "Oh to be a fly on the wall if Lucius Malfoy ever finds out about that!"

"Well, it won't be me who tells him, that's for sure. I've kept his secret except for telling you. Maybe some time you could talk about… things," she ended with a shrug.

"We'll be very stoic and manly about it if we do," he said with a wink as he leaned forward to kiss her. "So can I expect to see you again in a month?"

Ginny groaned. "I may not be able to sneak away from my mother so close to the wedding. She'll want to keep us busy doing something. I have no idea what, really, but something. When we finally have our civil ceremony, I just want something as simple as possible. I've already got the prize anyway. You."

She kissed him again, enjoying the feel of him on her lips and naked from head to toe while she was still mostly clothed. This could easily become one of her tamer kinks if she were to visit him for future full moons during her seventh year.

"I'd better get back before I'm missed," she said, reluctantly pulling away from him. "Save a dance at the wedding for me, Remus."

"Oh, I'll be saving more than that for you," he said and then stood up to walk back to his house with her.

###

Once Ginny got back to Hogwarts, she had little time to change her robes and get to her classes. She felt like she was running perpetually behind all day, but the good will she had gained by spending time with Remus that morning made it so that little of the cares of the day could not get her down.

It was only at lunch time when Harry sat down beside her that she looked at him questioningly.

"Had a good time?" he asked with no sound of malice in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked with confusion evident on her face.

He pulled a small leaf out of her hair and placed it on the table. "I thought you might have done something interesting. Maybe I was wrong."

Ginny blushed bright red, and confessed. "I forgot to brush my hair when I came back. Great."

"I doubt anyone noticed, though a few are talking about your performance in Transfiguration yesterday. I guess compliments are in order," Harry said.

"Thank you," she nodded. "Honestly, I didn't show them much of anything at all. My power is much stronger than what they did see. I was trying to be modest."

He nodded back at her thanks, and they ate the rest of their lunch at ease with each other for the first time in a very long time.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter comes from "Take a Walk" which was originally performed by Split Enz on the album _Time and Tide_. My preferred version is the one with Neil Finn and Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) on the album _7 Worlds Collide_.

The idea of Gay!Harry came from AJRoald when we were having a brain storming session.


	42. Jedes Ende ist ein Neuanfang

**CHAPTER 42:  
Jedes Ende ist ein Neuanfang**

_Seal my fate  
I get your tongue in the mail  
No one is wise __until they see how it lies__  
__Love this life  
Don't wait until the next one comes  
_~Neil Finn

The end of the school term came with much rejoicing and a few tears from the students in seventh year. Hermione had gotten through her NEWTs with the stellar marks she had been expected to make, but she took Harry and Ron with her kicking and screaming the whole way. She had nearly driven her two best friends crazy from her angst over the tests, which had been justified in her own mind.

The one thing an overachiever could rarely explain to others was the fact that even with being really good at something there were still higher levels of virtuosity left to achieve. Her friends kept her grounded, though, and then the next big thing was in order. The wedding of Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger.

The trio would be staying in the Weasley house, as together in their young adulthood as they had ever been during their Hogwarts years. Ron and Hermione had taken one of the largest bedrooms as one of their own to share after their wedding. Ginny had been an enthusiastic helper in that endeavor because it gave her an outlet on a small scale for things she might eventually try at Lupin Lodge. She also helped for more selfish reasons… the muffling of the noise that would surely be coming out of that room.

"It's simple," Ginny said to Hermione one time they were alone together in the redecorated room. "You don't want us to hear you, and we don't want to hear you. No one wants to know anything at all. Now I understand why my dad thinks ignorance is bliss."

"I'm really good with a silencing spell," Granger said mischievously. "I've had to use it a few times."

"Oh, so you're an expert at it then?" Ginny asked with a teasing raise of the eyebrow.

"The spell, yes, but the other stuff… not yet," Hermione said. "We hadn't been dating that long before Ronald proposed, so it just seemed like a good decision to wait. I'm a little nervous about that, actually."

The girl did look embarrassed. Ginny wanted to give advice and tell her about her experience as if she was some expert on the subject. She really wanted to be haughty and tell her all about it in the same know it all way Hermione herself had often used. It would have been easy, too, to act superior since she had also married before Granger had, but doing so would have benefitted no one. Instead, it would have made Ginny's life particularly difficult. So the younger witch thought it more prudent to remain silent.

"You'll figure it out together. That's how you do most everything you do anyway, right?" Weasley finally said encouragingly. "And if that doesn't work, I hear there are lots of books on the subject, usually in the restricted section of the library."

"Oh, I'm familiar with those," Hermione admitted.

"Well then," Ginny said as she patted her reassuringly on the arm, "you have nothing to worry about."

The younger girl walked out of the room to go find other mischief to occupy her.

###

Ginny was waiting for Charlie when he arrived on a dragon two days before the wedding. She noted wryly his dramatic appearance, "You sure know how to make an entrance, big brother."

He dismounted the dragon and rushed to hug his baby sister, and then Charlie danced her around the yard. "I do what I can! So tell me everything you can while I get Sasha here taken care of."

"Everything is a tall order. Is it going to take you that long to take care of Sasha?" she asked while she petted the beast's soft scales.

Charlie groaned in complaint. "The poor girl is sick. Not too sick to travel, but I don't trust her with anyone back at the camp. It's like all I get are the most inept people to ever stand near a dragon. What I really need is someone who would be fireproof. Then I would have the perfect dragon assistant. But since a person like that doesn't exist, I am flying a broom in a rainstorm."

"Oh?" she asked casually. "Do you ever do paid internships out at your camp? How would someone go about applying for that job? There must be a way since you say you keep getting idiots."

The elder Weasley always enjoyed talking about his work, even when he was complaining about it, so he gave out the information freely. He described the work day and living conditions. Ginny agreed that it sounded like rough living, but she could see the enthusiasm in her brother's face.

"So, I'll be going back to Romania the day after the wedding," Charlie said in conclusion to his long story.

"You never stay too long," she said with a shake of her head. "You know Mum is going to miss you terribly. Why don't you go visit with her, and I'll take care of Sasha. I think I know just what she needs."

"Ginny, you don't know the first thing about taking care of dragons," he said.

"Well, you're right, Charlie, but you know our mother is worse than a dragon when she's ignored. So go on with you. I'll be fine," she said as she stroked the beast again. "I did have Hagrid as a teacher and you as a brother. I'll be _fine_. After all, I can't be any worse than the people you have back at the camp."

It was enough arm twisting that he went off to spend the time with their mother while Ginny stayed with the dragon to get to know her better.

###

That evening Ginny heard a light knock on her bedroom door. The house was bustling, and it could have been anyone. She was enjoying the rare moment of quiet while she had it, but she did love her family. She would rather be with them than quiet without them has she had been for so long when she was a prisoner in Jonathan's dungeon. That realization kept Ginny from staying by herself for too long.

"Come in," she said to whoever had knocked.

Charlie walked in to her room and looked around. It was not the room of a little girl, and it was not the room of an overly feminine and fastidious teenage girl, either. His sister wouldn't mind getting dirt under her fingernails if it ever became necessary. Knowing that about her gave him comfort in a way.

"I was just checking on Sasha. She's perfectly fine. Whatever had been ailing her seems to have disappeared," he said as he sat down on one of her chairs. It was one of the few girlish pieces of furniture she did have, and he looked so incongruous sitting there still dressed in most of his dragon keeper clothing.

Ginny smiled triumphantly at the news. "I knew it! She had a belly ache. Some rock or fire stone that she had eaten hadn't properly digested."

"So what did you do?" he asked, turning his head curiously.

"I reached inside her with my magic and helped incinerate the rock, one fire beast to another," she said, pointing her thumb to herself proudly. "It was really easy, too."

Charlie leaned forward to assess her. "You can do that?"

"You bet I can. You know what else?" she prompted, leaning toward him conspiratorially. "I'm fireproof. If you don't believe me, test me and see."

"Is that right?" he asked, full of interest.

He took the candle that was burning on Ginny's vanity, and passed his fingers through it to make sure it was a real fire. Since he was still wearing his dragon keeper's gloves, it was enough to retard the burn, but he knew the flame was definitely real. Then he took his sister's hand and put her fingers right into the center of the flame. She didn't flinch once while her fingers were there.

When Charlie let go of her hand, Ginny made the flaming gauntlet that had become one of her signature moves when demonstrating the visual shorthand of her magic. He looked at her and seemed very impressed.

"Take me with you for the summer," she begged. "It will give you a good assistant for a while, and it will give me some valuable job experience. There are a lot of things I could do after graduation. Who is to say what path I will take? There's one thing, though. _You_ have to convince Mum and Dad. I think I've already tried the limits of their patience with everything involving Remus."

"So what _is_ everything between you and Remus? I hear innuendo, but how about I get it directly from the source?" he said as he sat there in her room.

"Good plan," she agreed before telling a concise version of the story of her love for the werewolf and the future she fully intended to have with him.

"If I can work my magic on our parents, will it bother him when you go?" Charlie asked.

Ginny shrugged. "I probably wasn't going to be able to see much of him anyway. I agreed to play nice, after all, and Mum and Dad would probably come up with a lot of stalling tactics. Besides, the original point is that you need me right now."

"I do," he agreed, and then smiled wide. "I'm going to play this so smoothly Mum will think this was _her_ idea to let you go. Make sure your bag is packed with only the essentials. Keep personal effects to a minimum. There isn't room for it, and you don't want to encourage thievery. I'll take care of dear Mum and Dad."

"Excellent," Ginny said, the devious light in her eyes shining brightly.

###

By the night before the wedding, Charlie had done his part to work wonders on Molly. She came to Ginny to talk to her in her bedroom how she knew the summer would be awkward with Harry living in the same house with her and that there would be understandable complications with Ron and Hermione's new living situation. She wanted her daughter to have time to get a clear head and do something independent before she tied herself down by marrying Remus. No doubt, Charlie had also made to their mother the suggestion that Ginny might change her mind if she were given space from the situation.

Whatever her brother had actually said, Ginny appeared to accept her mother's wishes meekly and packed her bag solemnly. She didn't let a smile light her face or flash through her eyes at all, and it reminded her of the poker face she had been perfecting. At one point when neither Weasley parent was looking, however, Ginny gave Charlie two very enthusiastic thumbs up for the small miracle he made happen.

The other miracle that Charlie was credited to making happen was bringing Percy back to the family fold for the purpose of Ron's wedding. He had gone off to get his younger brother and did not take no for an answer. It was with great rejoicing that all the Weasleys had a portrait together as the family unit before the specifics of what made that family was about to change yet again.

Once the day of the wedding came, the Weasley house was in bustling chaos that was well beyond the normal level of chaos that could be generated by the family. Since it had been set up as Hermione's home base, Ron stayed the night at Bill's house where they indulged in a bachelor party. None of the males alluded to what happened, but there were many snickers and significant looks the before the ceremony started.

Harry had logically been made Ron's best man, and in the role of best man and best friend he had taken the liberty of buying Ron his formal wedding robes. They had both suffered the embarrassment of the Yule Ball together, and he didn't want to see something like that happen again. This made the other wizard shout with his relief.

The rest of the wedding party was a recreation of the six who had gone to the Department of Mysteries when Sirius had died. Neville acted as Ron's other groomsman, and Ginny and Luna were Hermione's bridesmaids. Though Ginny was officially the maid of honor, the bridal party duties were taken up by Molly and Fleur who had several ideas. It marked one of the first times the two women had worked together amicably.

At the time of the ceremony, Harry and Ginny walked out together toward the front of the crowd, each looking regal. Potter had black dress robes, while Ginny wore a soft golden dress with her hair up in an elegant French twist. Neville and Luna came out in similar attire, with Ron walking up to the front confidently to where he would stand and claim his bride. Though he was only eighteen, he seemed regal and manly as he walked to his destiny without fear.

Then the music changed to something Hermione had chosen from the Muggle world when she was a little girl. For her procession music, she insisted on walking to Gustav Holst's chorale theme from the Jupiter movement of the _Planets_ suite. She had said that the Muggle Princess Diana had used it in her wedding, and she wanted to do the same. So Hermione walked forward gracefully while the notes of beautiful music dropped all around her and people from both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds looked on.

Hermione made a beautiful bride in Ron's estimation, and that was the only opinion that counted as far as young witch was concerned. Her bushy hair was tamed to something manageable, and her dress looked like that from one of the Muggle royalty's own story books. She arrived as graceful as a swan with eyes only for Ron.

Albus Dumbledore officiated the rites of the ceremony as one of the most esteemed wizards in the realm, let alone in attendance that day. His prepared remarks were not as strange as some of his Hogwarts opening speeches because he chose to have mercy on the new couple.

When it came time for Ron and Hermione to exchange their vows, Ginny moved her gaze to scan the crowd for her werewolf. She truly wished for Ron and Hermione to have every happiness that could be theirs, but no vows would ever be more beautiful to her than the ones she had shared with Remus. It was easy to find his gaze since he was looking right back to her, smiling and thinking thoughts of love.

Dumbledore then announced it was time to kiss the bride. A chorus of whoops and hollers rose to heaven as Ron did his solemn duty to seal the deal between them.

###

"Who knew Professor McGonagall could dance like that?" Neville asked incredulously as he watched the older witch twirl around the dance floor that had been set up. Even though she had helped them learn dignified dancing for the Yule Ball, it became clear that she had not demonstrated the full extent of her dancing skill.

Several of the other witches and wizards were dancing while still others were lingering around the refreshments. The wedding party had already done all the standard dances with each other in multiple combinations. Ginny, standing beside Neville at the time, was ready to take a seat, and dropped into the first empty one she could find.

"I think she likes weddings," the red haired witch wryly remarked about their Head of House. "She was absolutely bawling at the vows."

Neville agreed with her and then looked distracted at something he saw coming their way. Remus Lupin was being chased down by one of the older witches who seemed determined to talk to him.

§Save me!§ Remus thought to Ginny in a panic.

"Hello, Professor," Longbottom greeted Lupin.

"Neville," the werewolf acknowledged before the witch caught up to him to continue haranguing him.

"So you see, my nephew would be just perfect for you! You really should start dating again, and he's such a good boy," she said, sounding so proud.

"I told you," Lupin replied through gritted teeth. "I'm taken."

"Yes, I know dear, but it seems Sirius Black is long gone. You shouldn't have to waste your life away," she said in the all-knowing way only some very ignorant people can have.

Ginny stood back up again and took the wizard's hand. "He's with me."

The old witch stopped talking and stared at her in disbelief. "But you're a _girl_, and a really young one. Everyone knows Remus Lupin is..."

The woman couldn't finish her statement in front of Ginny's delicate ears, so she turned her attention to the werewolf instead. "If you don't want to be with my nephew, Remus, you don't have to make up such outlandish and untrue stories."

"Trust me," he said through clenched teeth, "I don't want to be with your nephew no matter how nice of a young man he is, and I _am_ with her."

§Maybe she can set him up with Harry. He's a catch,§ Ginny thought with mocking sweetness that made Remus inappropriately laugh out loud.

The woman looked upset with them both and stalked off in the other direction as if her lovely nephew's reputation had been besmirched.

Once she had left, Neville looked at Remus and Ginny who were still holding hands. "_Are_ you two together? It wasn't just something you said to make her go away?"

"Yes, we really are," Ginny said with a smile. "It's just, um… it's new."

"Huh," was all Longbottom commented before going to find himself some punch.

"So, could I interest you in a dance with me since you've twirled around the floor with nearly every other man at this wedding?" Remus asked, offering Ginny his arm.

"Oh, you can," she agreed, putting her hand on his arm, "but I want to tell you something first. Let's go have a seat somewhere private while I finish resting my feet."

Together they walked to a two seated bench under a tree that was to the side of where the dancing and refreshments were. It was a perfect people watching spot, and Ginny was surprised it wasn't already taken. She was happy to sit and even happier to have Remus beside her.

"I'm going away for the summer," she said. "When Charlie goes back to Romania, I'll be going with him to do an internship in the dragon camp. It's just a short thing. I'll be back in September to start my seventh year at Hogwarts."

He looked at her sideways and casually mentioned, "I might be able to visit you while you're there. It all depends on which assignments Xeno gives me. He likes my work, though, and I'm moving quickly up the ranks. It surprises me, actually, but I like what I do. I would never have considered a work in newspapers before a few months ago."

"It seems to be your lot. You would never have considered me a few months ago, either. Well, I'm glad you won't miss me too much while I'm in Romania," Ginny told him as she took his hand again. "I'm looking forward to making some dreams come true, and this just might be one of them.

"I really liked Charlie's dragon Sasha. It's like I could read her mind and know what was bothering her. Maybe it was all my practice trying to talk to Moony that helped," she said, referring to him as if he was a separate entity.

"You know we're actually one in the same, right?" he said with a dubious expression on his face.

"Yes!" she said, leaning forward to stroke the hair at his temple. "But when you go into moon mind, you don't think the same way you usually do. I can't break through that. My point is, I'm going to Romania, and I'll miss you very much while I'm there. But I'll be coming right back home to you when I'm done."

"I'm not going to stand in your way," he said with a grin. "Just remember, I love you enough to follow you to hell and back. I've already done it once. I can do it again if necessary."

Ginny laughed. "Okay, Remus John Lupin, _now_ who is practicing being a smooth talker?"

"I thought it was nice!" he answered with a laugh.

"It was," she said with a smile. "I love you, too. Just in case you needed a reminder."

He shrugged and exaggeratedly pouted. "How about a dance followed by an absolutely obnoxious public display of affection in the form of a really good kiss?"

"Ah, wedding entertainment. Let's do it, husband," she said as she took his hand to lead him to the floor.

###

Upon arrival on the dance floor, Remus put his hands on Ginny's waist and smiled down her with the silver glint of mischief that she adored to see. As he had done on the day they exchanged their own vows of union, he took her hand in his while she rested her other hand on his shoulder. Then as the Wizarding world watched, or their small portion of it, he led the beautiful redhead around the floor. They moved on graceful feet as if they had been dancing on a cloud.

The pair exchanged smiles with each other that lit up their faces as their bodies moved around the floor. Molly and Arthur watched from a distance as they had been getting to know Hermione's parents. Mrs. Weasley could only touch her husband's upper arm as their baby wordlessly showed them all the contents of her open heart. One by one, people from their circle of friends seemed to realize what dancing pair had already known. Even if they were not the couple of the day, this pair was absolutely gob smacked in love with each other.

"So about that obnoxious kiss," Remus said in her ear as he pulled her to the side when the song was over.

"Are you sure you want to be seen kissing such a young witch?" she teased.

"I'll risk it," he said.

"Well, good," Ginny agreed as she put her arms around his neck and stood up on her toes to give Remus a kiss in front of anyone who might be watching. He held on to her waist to steady her, but definitely kissed her back.

"Hmmm," he hummed. "Nice."

"I think so," Ginny replied with a lazy grin before Luna suddenly grabbed her to bring her over to where Hermione and Fleur were standing. She shrugged as she got pulled away, and Remus smiled and waved at her as she went.

"That was an interesting display, Lupin," Severus Snape said snidely a few seconds later.

He looked at the Potions Master and wanted to make a really cutting remark at his expense. He felt like telling him that just because he redhead _he_ loved had not loved him back was no reason to begrudge him the love of Ginny. In the end, such cruelty would serve no purpose for such a sad man. Remus himself had once been as sad, so he decided to take the verbal high road and not provoke him.

"I'm a lucky man," he said and walked away.

Lupin noticed with no small amusement that the annoying witch with the single nephew had managed to find Harry. Whether or not she was playing match maker, the two young men seemed to be making interested eyes at each other, and Remus was happy she had left him alone. When he looked for Ginny, she was speaking to Fleur in hushed tones, but her face was radiant. Seeing her there made his soul feel lighter somehow.

"Hello, Remus!" Tonks said as she walked near him. She had a glass of champagne in her hands and Alastor Moody at her side. Her visual mood for the day was classic and not shocking, and it suited the occasion.

"Ah, hello. Are you enjoying the wedding so far?" he asked them amiably.

"Perhaps not as much as you, boy," Moody said with less than his usual gruffness, "but it has been good."

"I concur," Tonks said with a salute of her champagne flute and a quick knowing look to Moody.

"Well, that's just lovely," he said to both of them with a broad grin decorating his face.

###

By some advanced form of persuasion or deception Ginny was able to get out of Molly and Arthur's house to spend several hours with Remus before she would go off to Romania with Charlie for the rest of the summer. She woke up in his arms feeling perfectly content.

"I'm going to enjoy being able to do this on a regular basis," she said languorously.

"I would have no trouble getting used to this," he agreed, feeling satisfied.

"Good," she answered as she went to kiss him. "I love you, husband."

He stopped and smiled against her mouth. "I like how that sounds, wife. I. Love. You." Those words he punctuated with kisses.

"You'll come see me off today?" she asked.

"But of course," he said. "Not even one of your father's hexes and all the combined power of Weasley manhood would keep me away."

"I think Bill's starting to be okay with it, but that's because Fleur is really on my side. It's good to have someone in my corner. I'm glad I've got her," she said.

He started to move, "It might be time to get going. You don't want to keep your public waiting, Miss Weasley."

Ginny gently pushed his shoulder back down on the bed. "I think we've got time for one more private performance. Wouldn't you agree, Remus?"

"You might have to convince me," he said with an exaggerated eye roll for comical effect.

"Yes, let me get on that right away," she said against his lips before kissing him once again as if he was the tastiest delight ever known.

###

Ron and Hermione were still at the Burrow because they would not be leaving for their simple honeymoon until Monday. Harry and the rest of the Weasley family had all stuck around for the festive weekend to shower the new husband and wife with attention. Remus appeared about an hour before Charlie's departure stating that he was there to wish Ginny off. It was from that atmosphere of joyful celebration that Charlie, Ginny and Sasha took their leave.

"Can't get enough of her, can you?" Fred teased Lupin as he talked with Ginny.

"Shut it, you," she told her brother as she put her arm comfortably around the werewolf's waist.

Once Charlie had determined it was time to go, more hugs and kisses where shared with all, and then the siblings took to dragon back. A much happier and healthier Sasha gracefully pumped her wings to get lift, and Ginny bent forward over the dragon's shoulder to look again to Remus. When he stepped forward toward her, she blew him a kiss and followed it with a shower of sparks and flames that could never burn him. He turned his face to the blessing of her love, at peace in every part of his being.

§I am yours always,§ Ginny thought down to him.

§As I am yours,§ Remus replied, lifting his hand and opening silver eyes to look upon her as she moved higher up into the sky.

Ahead of her, Charlie adjusted Sasha's flying harness and said, "Hold on tight, Ginny. You're going to love this!"

The dragon reached the flight corridor and then flew them all the way to the camp in Romania.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyric for this chapter is from "Love This Life" performed by Crowded House on the album _Temple of Low Men_.

The German chapter title means "Every end is a new beginning." Yes, I could have just written it in English, but I was inspired by a very specific song when I thought of it. Also, Ginny's bit about "coming right back home to you" is somewhat of a borrow from "Hey Baby" by Stephen (son of Bob) Marley. Great song. Check it out after you've listened to all the Neil Finn songs.

Up next: the epilogue, so don't go anywhere just yet!


	43. EPILOGUE

**EPILOGUE:  
The Tales of the Silver and the Flame**

_When others have forgotten my name, you alone will remember who I am.  
_~Ginny Lupin;  
personal correspondence to her husband Remus;  
date unknown

When she was in Romania, the legend of the Fire Witch that had taken form in Luxor began to grow. Ginny's work with the dragons solidified her reputation as a truly gifted witch working on the European continent. She was able to treat many of the ailments of the dragons in the camp, and she had earned their respect because of her fireproof nature. They, like the feral Moony, saw her as the powerful fire beast to which all others were subject.

Ginny's power grew when she could use it more in the open air, and she perfected several of her ideas of transport in fire. While it was true that she could not keep clothes when she moved within the fires, she had developed a flame shield to make sure her modesty was protected.

She had hoped to try taking Remus with her through movement within the fire plane, but it was a long time before he reluctantly allowed her to try it. He trusted her not to burn him, but he was uncertain of entering the energy state. He told her that as a werewolf shape shifter, he much more preferred to remain in the physical realm.

Ginny attacked her last year of Hogwarts with zeal that surprised and inspired those around her. She captained her house Quidditch team to the cup victory that she had promised them and worked diligently toward her NEWTs. During all this, she took the full moon to be with her beloved that one night every month before returning to school.

After completion of her Hogwarts education, Ginny stayed with her parents for a short while to enjoy spending time with them. It was a solution that they all seemed to treasure for they realized how short it would be. She made excuses to talk to Arthur in particular as he worked in his shop. She helped him build things and envision dreams just as she had done with him when she was a little girl.

During that year, Remus's own fame was on the rise. His writing at the _Quibbler_ brought him notoriety for being fair and skilled. He was able to follow that laterally into other talents he had, such as map making and eventually book writing.

On Monday, November 1, 1999, Remus and Ginny stood before a Ministry wizard in an efficient civil ceremony to make their vows official. It was the very definition of a low key affair. Molly and Arthur were there, with Fleur acting as Ginny's matron of honor and Harry serving as Remus's best man.

Harry's boyfriend, who had been the young man he met at Ron's wedding, was not in attendance that day. Neither Ginny nor Remus had particularly liked him, but he did seem to treat Harry well enough. Their mutual aversion to the man could have been due to the way his introduction was thrust upon them so rudely.

After that, Ginny did as she had promised her parents and moved out of their house and into the home that was now truly hers with the man she loved. Once they had gotten enough distance from the civil ceremony, they both explained to Arthur and Molly that they had previously had a handfasted marriage and would still consider April 15th to be their anniversary.

In the first years of their marriage, Ginny traveled far and wide seeing the world with Remus not far behind her. Their skills allowed them to roam while their love made sure they were never apart from each other for too long. Any naysayers who would have doubted them after they first made their public presentation of their relationship at Ron's wedding were silenced as their marriage continued to be long and strong.

New wars came and went as evil rose and fell around them as was the continual pattern with humanity. Harry did not survive his last meeting with Voldemort and his Death Eaters, though in the end Potter had truly defeated him. The world mourned for the Boy Who Lived, but none more so than the people who actually knew and loved him.

###

In her mid-twenties, Ginny was finally ready for motherhood, but that was not an easy road for the wife of a werewolf, even one as changed as Remus. The first few pregnancies ended up in miscarriage, and Remus begged her to stop trying after he found her one morning face down on the floor in a pool of her own blood. She fell into a deep depression at the thought that she would never meet her precious Wolfgang or his siblings.

Remus during those years had started to develop his skill in tracking down people with the potential for Elemental magic. His instinct for discovery was usually so spot on that Headmistress Minerva McGonagall had been in contact with him during the summer break to discuss the development of a new teaching position for him at Hogwarts.

It was during that meeting that Ginny gave him a loud mental blast that she was pregnant with the boy who would become Wolfgang. Despite his caution in light of her previous miscarriages, she was so ebullient that her enthusiasm could not be contained. She explained to her incredulous husband that she had dreamed of their son, and he had promised her he would be coming with others to arrive in due season. It was her mother's logic that it was probably not a good idea to argue with her unborn son, and Remus had no retort for it.

The following year on January 27th, their first son Wolfgang Amadeus was born. Ginny insisted upon the name for her perfectly beloved little boy. There was not a child more loved by two parents than this one. He was a werewolf like his father, but unlike Remus before Ginny's magic changed him, Wolfgang never seemed to struggle with any aspects of his werewolf transformation.

Remus noticed, too, with the birth of his first son, that he could see Wolfgang's colors when in his wolf form just as he did with his wife. The boy didn't have fire magic the way that Ginny did, but the power moved into her son as a familial gift.

A few years later Thomas Arthur and then Anna Molly were born. Both of these children were werewolves like their father and older brother, and Remus could see them in the dark, too. He marveled every time he saw them and realized the gift of life that his wife had created.

The Lupin family seemed to be all that it was going to be before Ginny realized she was pregnant again. Nothing about the pregnancy seemed normal to her, and she feared her body might be falling back into the old habits and setting herself up for a miscarriage again. Ginny confessed to Remus that it just felt strange and not at all like how it felt when she was carrying her werewolf children.

A trip to the medi-wizards at St. Mungo's allayed her fears.

"Mrs. Lupin, you're perfectly healthy, and both babies are doing fine," the medi-wizard had said nonchalantly.

"_Both_ babies?" Remus had immediately questioned with a lump in his throat.

"Yes," the doctor had answered. "Fraternal twins by the look of it. That one is _obviously_ a boy, and that one looks to be a girl."

When the twins were finally delivered to term, Rowan Edward was named after his father's long dead twin brother, but he had the same fiery disposition as his mother. Sarah Elizabeth, born next as the yin to Rowan's yang, had the affinity and control over the Elemental water. The twins' control of opposite Elemental magic gave the Lupins new parental challenges.

The last child of Remus and Ginny Lupin was Gabriel John, who had always been a frail looking boy despite being a werewolf as most of the other members of his family. Ginny had much maternal guilt wondering if she had done something wrong that prevented her last baby from being as healthy as he could be. The dark thought remained under the happiness, and there was much happiness in the Lupin household.

The children had naturally grouped themselves with the older three being closer to each other while the twins and Gabriel tended to play with each other more. They enjoyed their many Weasley cousins, but life was hard for them once they reached school age, despite the fact that their werewolf father worked for Hogwarts.

###

Remus had been a very public figure as a werewolf for many years, and his efforts at increasing awareness and tolerance had helped make positive change in the Wizarding world. For many people, though, change moved at a glacial pace, and his perfectly polite and well-behaved children were received with suspicion and scorn from some of the others around them.

Dealing with the pressure of those struggles is what put Wolfgang on the life path he would choose. One day as an angry fifteen year old after Remus had to pull him off a boy he was trying to beat to a bloody pulp, Wolfgang got his own sense knocked into him by his very angry father. Remus had nearly infinite patience with his children, so to see him finally break was a terrifying experience for the young werewolf.

The fatherly wisdom he left his son that day was, "You may be the only werewolf some people may ever know. It is, therefore, your responsibility to be the best person you can be or you shame us all."

Wolfgang resolved within himself then that he was going to go into the Ministry like his grandfather had done before him, but he was determined to go right to the top. His focus on his goal once he made his choice was so intent that his Uncle Ron accused him of being scarier than his Aunt Hermione, who was a truly scary woman. Brilliant, but scary, Uncle Ron had assured him.

Thomas had met his future wife at Hogwarts when Gryffindor House and Hufflepuff house shared Herbology together. They both had an interest in the medicinal uses of plants, and together they worked on improvements to the Wolfsbane Potion that was offered to the rest of the population.

Wolfgang had to wait to meet his first wife, who had been a Muggle of all people. It had been a strange meeting on the streets of London while he was trying to rise through the ranks of the Ministry. Not only did he have to introduce his new wife to the Wizarding world, but to the peculiarities of his family, which was by all standards unique.

At some point during this time, Anna brought home her first girlfriend, which was met with surprise from both parents and the wry comment from Ginny to Remus that, "She's _your_ daughter."

He ended up talking to her candidly about his past with Sirius, something he had never anticipated coming up in conversation between himself and his children. To say it was a strange and uncomfortable experience for both of them was perhaps an understatement.

The Lupin family received their first great heartbreak when Gabriel suddenly died right before a full moon. No matter how many advances the werewolves of the family had taken beyond those of the other werewolves, they still could not resist the moon's change. He could not complete his moon shift, while the werewolves were forced to change and mourn for the son and brother that they had lost. The sound of the agonized werewolf cries haunted all who happened to be near the Lupin family estate that night.

Ginny grieved on her own, a mother's grief that was deathly quiet and absolutely inconsolable. The twins, on the other hand, grieved viciously and loudly. Sarah used her power over water to draw rain and storms from the sky while Rowan's angry fire joined her torment.

A few years after that, Wolfgang lost his wife in childbirth, and Remus held his son as he raged for all that had been so senselessly taken from him. The wisdom he shared with him this time was that all we truly love never really goes away, though it doesn't make their absence any less painful to no longer be able to touch it. Wolfgang did the only thing he could do, and he threw himself more thoroughly into his work while watching the families of his brother Thomas or his cousins with heart-wrenching envy.

###

In later years, Ginny still worked personal contracts and kept up her appearances to feed her legend as the original Fire Witch. By that point with Remus's help, the landscape of magical education was changing enough that potential Elementals were recognized more precisely and trained for what their unique magical potential could be. He used that to ride a second wave of prosperity for the Lupin clan as Remus became the esteemed Headmaster of Hogwarts.

When Wolfgang finally made his career goal to become the Minister of Magic as he had wanted since he was a teenager, it proved to be a hollow victory. He worked long, hard and thankless hours, but he had no one to go home to or share his dreams with. He had become a lonely man in the midst of all his considerable professional success.

It was a surprise then to both himself and his family one full moon when he brought a medi-witch home with him from St. Mungo's. He had met her while visiting the children's ward, and they had somehow hit it off despite her best efforts not to be impressed with the still relatively young and very good-looking Minister of Magic.

It was an odd time for some of the magical folk since there were werewolves as the head of two of the greatest positions of power in the British Wizarding world. Though they were successful and just, the resentment of the loud dissidents resulted years later in the Werewolf War that nearly tore the entire family and the kingdom apart.

The Lupins took a stand in the protected sanctuary that Ginny had created, but when harm came to overtake them and possibly kill them all, she sacrificed one last great use of power for the protection of her family. On the night of a full moon with threats coming at the werewolves from all sides, Ginny tapped into the deepest well of her Elemental magic and went into an energy state burning so brightly that the werewolves within the boundaries of the property were all shifted back into human form even though the moon was shining full in the night sky above them. It was enough to counteract and defeat the attackers who came with murderous intent.

When Ginny came back to her corporeal form that last time, Remus did not find the vibrant redhead he had known and loved most of his married life. This woman looked old, and her hair was silver as if all her Elemental fire had finally been drained out of her.

"Oh, my love," he said as he kissed her face and cried.

"I had to save you," she lamented because in her heart of hearts there had been no other choice in the matter. Remus knew of his wife that her protective instinct was the strongest drive she possessed. He still lived because of that gift she had long ago given him.

As the years after the Werewolf Wars ended, Ginny seemed to fade a little more each day, and Remus felt his soul ache every time he felt her slipping involuntarily away from him. He could not let her go. She was his one true north star, the thing that for him stayed constant when everything else in the world shifted and changed.

###

In the springtime of a year no one remembers any more, the children of Remus and Ginny Lupin with all their grandchildren and extended family threw the couple an anniversary party on April 15th to coincide with the day they had always considered themselves to be married. Ginny, who had been fading in and out for years, seemed fully present in her mind, and they called it a good day.

But when their children left and Remus was alone with his wife once more, he cried out in pain.

"Ginny, don't leave me!" he begged her.

"What are you talking about, Remus?" she asked as she turned to him distractedly. She had been forgetting again. "I'm right here."

"You've been leaving me for years," he grieved as if his soul had slowly been extracted from him. "In this life or the next, you're not allowed to go where I can not follow."

She cried because he cried, and she watched him sitting on the floor as if he was broken and about to crawl into a grave. She looked at him, and buried deep within her, a spark long forgotten remembered.

"In my life, I have loved only you, Remus John. You have been my heart and my strength even when I had none of my own," she said as she sat down on the floor with him intent that she should see his silver eyes again.

When he brought his gaze to hers, she saw the human dominant but still lovely grey eyes looking back at her. Tears trickled down her cheeks quietly as she said to him, "Hello, my love."

He took her hand and kissed her knuckles, her old woman's skin papery under his lips. Then she tried to stand, and they both struggled to help each other up.

"It's getting close to midnight," she said softly. "It won't be April 15th any more."

Remus nodded at her, and he watched how the light in her eyes changed.

"This old phoenix has one trick still left within her," Ginny replied before she took a step back.

Like a piece of paper burning before him, she changed from all sides. She was no longer the old, doddering grandmother ancient of years. Ginny transformed once more into the young woman who lived in her soul. Her beauty before him was breath taking.

"And once more for you, my husband," she said as she put her hand at the nape of his neck as if she were about to kiss him.

Remus felt a flash of fire rush through his body, and he looked down to see his own body changed. He, too, was a much younger version of himself, perhaps even younger than Ginny had ever known in their natural life together.

"Tell me what you told me this day so many years ago," she asked.

"I, Remus John," he said softly as he took both her hands and held them to his chest, "between the earth and the stars and surrounded by all that stands eternal witness, pledge myself to you, Ginevra Molly. I will love you all the days of my life and even when I no longer have breath within me. I give myself to you freely and without reservation."

She smiled at him to hear those beautiful words on his lips once more. Though they were inside their home and not truly under the stars did not matter. Those were his vows and his pledge to her. Then she softly repeated to him that which she had told him shortly after midnight on April 15th so many years ago.

"I, Ginevra Molly, take you, Remus John, with a pure and happy heart knowing that we two are one. I will give my love and my life to you as long as this universe will allow. So say I before the earth, the moon and the stars and all that stands eternal witness."

From somewhere else in the house they heard a clock ticking, counting down the remaining seconds before the day would come to a close. Ginny put her arms around her husband's neck as she asked, "Kiss me one last time, Remus."

He bent his head give her that last kiss, and as Ginny returned it, she finally did to him in death that which she could never do to Remus in life.

When their children went looking for them the next day, their bodies were never found, but Wolfgang and the others knew they would never see their parents again in their lifetimes.

###

As Remus had so assured decades before, he and the Fire Witch had spectacularly become part of legend. Some parts of the legend were true, while other parts were outrageous and entertaining lies. The mythos surrounding them took on its own life with various tales existing in some parts of the country.

In County Durham on the other side of England from where Lupin Lodge had been, it is said by some magical folk who still live in the area that on cold January nights the shades of the Fire Witch and the Werewolf still wander the hills as they try to find their way home to what still remains the lone natural werewolf sanctuary on the island of Great Britain. No one has ever really tested whether or not that particular part of the legend is actually true, but one other odd thing is.

Decades after the unexplained disappearance of the Fire With and the Werewolf, the long barren spot where they were said to have once been imprisoned suddenly sprang to life with flowers that bloom year round, even in the coldest of winters. Nobody seems to understand how or why it happened, but magical people still flock there to this day.

**FIN**

* * *

**A/N**: If you made it here to the end, thank you very much! This story wasn't and won't be for everyone, but thank you for letting me share it with you.

Deepest thanks to all the people who encouraged me along the way and supported me through _9 years_ of creativity. I am not in contact with some of you any more, but it all mattered. If I could single out one person, it would be AJRoald, who above all others motivated and encouraged me to finish this story and showed true friendship while doing so.


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